Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum
by sheesh1991
Summary: 3 years have passed, and Eli is no where to be found. The crew of the Destiny continue their epic journey through the new galaxy, searching for Eli, making new friends and enemies, and seeing strange sights. Ready to go on a new journey?
1. Investigation

**EDIT: 2/14/2012**

**Hello fellow SGU fans! Chapter 1, Investigation has been edited and new material has been added! Most of the content is still the same, and the story is still very much just the same. But I have reread everything, edited, added some new things here and there and replaced the original Chapter 1 with the new and improved Chapter 1! Hope you guys enjoy a better read with the improved Chapter 1! Oh, and I am removing the M Rating for this story, as I have edited out the adult content. So now, SGU fans of ALL AGES can enjoy the read!**

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><p><em>Hello fans of Stargate Universe. The name's sheesh.<em>

_This is the story of our friends onboard the Destiny, 3 years after they made the fateful FTL jump from one galaxy, to another. We follow them as their jouney continues through this new, and strange galaxy. What mysteries await them? What sort of alien species will they encounter, and wil they be hostile? And what has become of the one man we have come to know and love as the incredibly smart, Eli Wallace? Has he survived the jump? Or did the crew wake up too late? To find out the answers to these questions, read the story that could have been, the story that many of us SGU fans would love to see finished._

_This is a fan fiction that I have been working on for the last few months. Forgive me if you see mistakes here and there, as I have been a novice writer for about 6 years now. Since I learned while watching the season 2 finale that there would no longer be new episodes, I was haunted with many, many questions about where the story of the Destiny would go, and what would become of the characters we have come to love. After giving it some thought, I decided I would write my take on a season 3 of Stargate Universe. This is a fan fiction, written by a fan, for the fans. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. This is the biggest project I've ever done. Please, I only ask one thing from those of you who read it...**REVIEWS!** Again, I'm still a novice writer, and I need...would like reviews from other fans ands readers about my writings. If there is something that you did or did not like, please tell me in your review, so that I may improve upon it in future chapters. Again, **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_

**Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum**

**This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.**

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><p>627/11

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Investigation

_There was a time when humans believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe. That belief lasted for many years, until one man decided to look through his telescope one day, and discovered that the Earth was in fact revolving around a star. Many years go by, and many other radical beliefs come to existence; humans were alone in the solar system, and the universe; the universe is infinite; there is only one universe; the Big Bang. Those radical beliefs and ideas, although a few are true, cannot compare to the mission undertaken by a group of humans from Earth, billions, and billions of light years from home. No one on Earth can imagine what they have seen. No one knows about them, except for the people whom do know about them at Stargate Command Central._

General Jack O'Neill tapped his polished wooden pen against the conference table in frustration as he tried to listen to Colonel Samantha Carter explain to him a radical new theory she came up with about dialing Destiny. He let out a long sigh, "Look, Sam, that's great 'n all, but didn't you hear what Rush said before they jumped?"

Sam blinked, "Well, yes, but-"

"But nothin'!" Jack exclaimed, holding up a finger to silence her. He sighed again, and got up from his chair, "Look, I know you want to do something that'll help them in the long run, but I'm not going to blow up another planet, just to send a team of marines and some scientists through the gate! Further more, I'm not gonna do it because we don't even know if they even made it to the other galaxy! For all we know, they could be drifting in that big gap between the galaxies, with no power or life support, and still sitting in their stasis pods, dead. And no, you're not going if I for SOME reason decide to give your…theory a go."

"With all do respect sir, the probability of blowing up another planet is-" Sam stopped when Jack held up his hand.

"No. And, uh, no more of this, probability stuff. I've been listening to that crap for three years now." He turned around to face his office door, his arms swinging outwards as he did, "It's all startin' to sound the same to me." He opened his office door, and paused for a moment, "By the way, when're Teal'c and Daniel getting back?"

At that moment, the alarm for an off-world activation began to blare. "I think that's your answer," Sam said as she turned to descend down the spiral staircase leading to the control room.

"I think you're right," Jack replied as he closed his office door and followed her. They enter the control room, and watched the Stargate as the spinning ring of symbols halted, and the last chevron locked. The Gate room and the control room filled with a brilliant blue light as the wormhole established, and the Gate activated.

"Receiving Doctor Jackson's IDC sir," Walter said.

"Open the iris." Jack turned to Sam, "Let's go say hi," Jack said to Sam as they turned and walked down the steps to the Gate room.

Teal'c stepped through the gate, followed by Daniel.

"Welcome home boys," Jack said as they walked down the grated pathway. "On time as usual."

"Yeah, we would have been a couple hours early…but when we saw nothing but a ruined city, we had to find out what happened," Daniel said as he removed his glasses and rubbed them against his shirt.

"What?" Sam said, shocked by what she heard, "But we checked last week. Jonas was just appointed as the new leader of the Joint Ruling Council."

"Indeed he was," Teal'c said, "but his role as leader appears to have been short-lived…very short-lived…"

"Judging by the way all of the government buildings and hospitals were completely incinerated, I'd say it was Lucian Alliance." Daniel said as he returned his glasses onto the bridge of his nose.

"But why? Why would the Lucian Alliance attack the Kelownan's?" Sam asked, unable to believe the tragic news.

"To send us a message," Jack said.

Teal'c nodded in agreement, "Indeed. Perhaps the Lucian Alliance knew of our alliance with the Kelownan's, and saw them as a threat."

At that moment, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell entered the Gate room, "Hey! Teal'c! Daniel! So, how'd the mission go?"

All eyes looked at him, and Cameron could sense something was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"What? I say something wrong?"

ͼͽ

"The whole city?" Cameron exclaimed.

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "The government buildings and hospitals were destroyed from orbit by the Lucian's Ha'tak's."

"But what about civilians? You two didn't see any survivors?" Sam asked.

"Lucian's wiped them out too," Daniel answered, his eyes on the ground, "They sent ground troops to make sure no one was left. I'd assume it's the same story for every city on Langara."

"It would seem that the entire human population of Langara, and the Kelownan race is no more," Teal'c added grimly.

"Damn it!" Cameron shouted angrily as he stood up. "That's the fifth planet the Lucian's attacked and wiped out the populations in three years! All that for a God knows how old a rust-bucket of a ship billions of light years away? We've got to do something General!"

"Calm down Mitchell," Jack said. Cameron sat back down again.

"Sorry sir," Cameron said sitting back down in his chair, "But we can't just let the Lucian's do what they want! We need to stop them, before they destroy every single innocent species that we've made friends with! Why are they even doing this for a damn rusty ship? What does killing off our allies have to do with Destiny anyway?"

"Probably because if they destroy all of our allies," said Sam, "then we won't have anyone to ask for help. And then we'll be defenseless. Once that happens, they'll just take Earth, and they'll have the gate address to Destiny."

"But they still need a sizeable power source, right?" Jack asked, looking from Sam to Daniel. "They need something big just to dial Destiny and hold a wormhole for a little while, right?"

Daniel nodded, "Yes, but I don't know where they're going to get that kind of power."

"I do," Cameron said as he stared at the parallel lines of the wood in the conference table, "Once they take Earth, they'll have access to every Naquadah generator we ever built, and every single nuclear power plant in the world, and funnel all that energy here. Then they'll be able to dial Destiny."

"My God. Mitchell's right," said Sam.

"Care to explain, Carter?" asked Jack, looking at her as he tapped his fingers against the table.

"Well, with the combined power of the Naquadah generators, and every nuclear power plant in the world, the Lucian's will have enough power to dial Earth and hold a stable wormhole for a few minutes, if not at least a minute." Sam looked at Jack as he digested what Sam just told him.

"And no…planet blowing up?"

"I doubt it Jack," Daniel said. "We don't have any power plants connected directly to the Earth's core, so there's no chance of Earth exploding as a result of that massive power drain. The only thing that'll happen is that the whole planet will more than likely go into a total blackout."

"Sir," said Cameron, "with all due respect, I'm getting tired of sitting on my damn ass, and doing nothing as the Lucian Alliance slaughters billions of innocent people out there!" He paused, "We need to do something."

"Indeed, O'Neill," said Teal'c. "We must strike back at the Lucian Alliance before they destroy every advanced society in this galaxy. Each race they destroy, they become more and more like the Goa'uld."

All eyes were on Jack. He looked around the table as he contemplated on what to do. He stopped tapping the desk, and sat upright in his chair, "Alright."

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Onboard the Destiny, billions and billions of light years away from the SGC, the hallways are eerily empty. A thin layer of dust has accumulated on every horizontal surface. The dust particles in the air sit suspended in the air, unable to float down or up as no air current could disturb the dust.

The control interface room was eerily silent, and dark, nobody pushing any buttons or making calculations for the next drop out of FTL. The whole ship seems to have been abandoned long ago, as not even lights on the gate were on. It was…empty.

Outside the Destiny, the story is the same.

No longer in FTL, the Destiny sits in total and complete emptiness. Nothing but empty, dark space surrounds it. But there is light outside of Destiny. The light is coming from the trillions of stars that illuminate the great disk of an ancient galaxy. And Destiny is just outside of this galaxy, a few million light years away from its edge, give or take. It is truly a sight that no human on Earth will ever see, nor can imagine. But, there is no one on the viewing deck to gaze at the spectacle. No one walks the hallways either. Destiny seems to be alone in this vast emptiness, the only viewer of the brilliant galactic jewel of stars in front of her.

Suddenly, Destiny is lit up by a bright beam of light. The light travels along the length of the ship, moving in a back and forth motion, almost like a search light. Destiny is not alone in the vast emptiness after all.

Another ship, very different from Destiny, has come upon the drifting Destiny. The ship, smaller than Destiny, maneuvers around the massive ship, shining its light on its ancient hull. The light falls upon the pyramid like structure of the Destiny, and stays there as the smaller ship moves in for a closer look. It hovers there, above the hull of the Destiny, shining the light into some of the small windows in the pyramid structure, seemingly interested in the design. Then, the light shuts off, and the smaller ship moves away from the Destiny. It turns away from the Destiny, and begins to move in the direction of the galaxy. The ships propulsions burn green, and grow brighter green as it moves away faster. And then, the space around it seems to ripple, and bubble outwards towards it. The ship accelerates toward the warped bubble of space, and disappears into it as the space snaps back in a rippling like motion. The ship was gone. Destiny was alone…once again, drifting in an intergalactic void between two galaxies, so close, yet so far away from its destination.

Then, something stirs. Lights begin to come on around the ship. Destiny is coming alive.

The lights in the stasis room come on, illuminating the frosted glass of the stasis pods. Lights inside the pods turn on, and shadowy figures become visible inside them. A hiss fills the room as the pressure within the stasis pods is released. One of them opens, and a hand appeared and grabbed the outside rim of the pod. Lieutenant Matthew Scott pulled himself out of the pod. He looked around, disoriented and confused. After a moment, he realized where he was.

Another stasis pod opened, and Doctor Nicholas Rush stepped out.

"Looks like we made it," Scott said.

"Yes, the only question remaining is how long?" Rush said as he walked passed Scott towards the control panel. He pushed a few buttons and let out a sigh of relief as he read what appeared on the screen. "Looks like Eli was right. We've only been traveling for three years." He pushed a few more buttons on the console, and the rest of the stasis pods opened, "Now we just need to find him." And with that, Rush quickly exited the stasis room.

"Rush, wait!" Scott called after him, but Rush was already gone. "Damn it."

"Scott."

Lt. Scott turned to see Colonel Everett Young stepping out of his stasis pod. "Sir?"

"How long?" Young asked.

"Only three years. Eli was right, and Rush just left to go find him," Scott answered.

"Good," Young said, "I'm going to help him. You start helping the rest out of here."

"Yes sir," replied Scott.

Young patted Scott on the arm and left the stasis room.

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Colonel Young entered the viewing deck, "Thought this would be the first place you'd go."

Rush, who was leaning against the railing in front of the observation window, looked over his shoulder, "Aye, and it would be the last place Eli would go." Rush returned his gaze to the galaxy.

Young walked over next to Rush and rested his hands on the railing, "Have you tried to contact Eli over the radio?"

Rush shook his head as he gazed at the beautiful sight of the galaxy in front of Destiny, "I have. No answer."

"Don't worry," Young said, "we'll find him soon." Young turned around and started walking back to the hallway, but Rush started talking again.

"One thing I don't understand," he said, turning to face Young, "is Destiny says that we've been in stasis for three years."

"Okay." Young looked, confused as to what Rush was getting at. "Just like Eli said."

"Yes, exactly. Like Eli said." Rush paused and rubbed the stubble on his chin, "But, Destiny's logs say that we came out of FTL, a year ago."

"What?" Young asked, surprised.

"Come with me," Rush said, motioning for Young to follow him as he walked out of the observation deck, "I'll show you what I mean."

Young looked back out the observation window at the galaxy, "Now that you mention it, we're still not in the galaxy."

"Yes," Rush said as Young caught up to him, "That's why I immediately came to the observation deck."

"If Destiny came out of FTL last year, why didn't it revive us?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

Rush and Young quickened their pace as they walked towards the control interface room together.

Adam Brody stood at one of the control panels in the control interface room. He looked up as Rush and Young entered, "Dr. Rush. I was just going through Destiny's logs, and it's telling me that-"

"Yes, I know Mr. Brody," Rush said, cutting Brody off, "We came out of FTL a year ago. Now we need to find out why Destiny didn't revive us."

"Yeah, but that's not all," Brody said as he clicked a few buttons on the panel. A holographic display of Destiny's power relay's and reserves appeared, "Destiny used up much of its power just to cross the void, right?"

"Correct." Rush replied, looking up at the display.

"That's why it came out of FTL so early." Brody clicked a few more buttons, and the display changed, showing a chart, "This is how much power is left. We have about three days worth of FTL travel left before we need to refuel."

"Okay, but how does that explain why Destiny didn't wake us up?" Young asked as he looked at the chart and power readings on the display.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out right now," Brody answered. "Even with just this much power left, Destiny would have still been able to revive us."

"Just enough power to revive us, and make the final jump to reach the next galaxy," said Rush. He looked back down at his control panel and clicked away at the buttons.

"What are you thinking?" Young asked.

"I'm thinking," Rush replied as he looked up from the panel screen, and up at the display again, "that this was Eli's doing."

"But why would he do that?" Young looked at the display as it changed to show the next galaxy and Destiny's trajectory.

"To save himself," answered Rush. A dot appeared on Destiny's recorded flight path. "We came out of FTL there, where the dot is." The line extended slightly in the direction of the galaxy, "This is where we are now."

"We've drifted that far in a year?" Brody asked.

"It seems, that after Destiny dropped out of FTL," Rush continued, "the power went on briefly and the sub-light engine's activated for a few seconds. That gave us enough momentum to drift within range of…" Rush trailed off.

"Within range of what?" Young asked.

Another dot appeared, this time at the edge of the galaxy, "Within range of a Stargate."

"Col. Young, this is Sergeant Greer, come in." Sergeant Ronald Greer's voice sounded over the radio.

Young held up the radio, "This is Young. What is it Sergeant?"

"Eli's room is empty," Greer responded, "But it looks like he left us a note."

"Roger that, Sergeant. Bring it here to the control interface room. Young, out." Young lowered the radio, "Looks like we found another piece to the puzzle."

"Maybe," said Rush as he continued to fiddle with the control panel. "Looks like the gate was dialed a couple minutes after we dropped out of FTL. But it was only on for a second."

"Maybe Eli went through," said Brody. "The gate address that appears in the log matches the one that's in dialing range of the Destiny."

"No," Rush shook his head, "If he had, then there would not have been anyway for him to power down the systems he activated."

"Oh, right." Brody looked back down at his control panel.

Doctor Dale Volker enters the control interface room with one of Destiny's wireless control panels, "Doctor Rush?"

Rush rolls his eyes, "Yes, what is it?"

"Um, I found this wireless panel near the elevator by the mess hall." Volker handed the wireless panel to Rush.

"Okay, so? What am I supposed to see?" Rush asked in frustration.

"Well, the last command entered into the panel," Volker reached over and tapped the screen on the panel, "was the start of a program to fill a sealed section of the ship with hydrogen sulfide."

"Hydrogen sulfide?" Young looked from Rush to Volker, "What does that mean?"

"My god," Rush said looking down at the programs commands on the wireless panel, "He found an alternative to putting himself in the broken stasis pod."

"And not only that," Volker continued, "but the program is also instructed to have Destiny monitor life signs, and then vent the atmosphere of that sealed section of the ship, and flood it with the vacuum of space. And once that step is done, the last instruction is to power down all of the systems that were reactivated after we came out of FTL, except our stasis pods."

"Can someone explain to me what this all means?" Young asked impatiently.

Rush sighed, "When hydrogen sulfide is introduced into the atmosphere instead of oxygen," said Rush, "it deceives the body into thinking that it doesn't need oxygen to survive. It reduces the body's metabolic activity, and if enough of it is introduced into the atmosphere, the body will become completely dormant."

"Essentially, making it appear as if someone is dead," Volker added. He and Rush looked at each other, "Doctor Rush, I think Eli's still on the ship."

"Aye, I believe so too." Rush set the wireless panel aside and began to fiddle with his main control panel.

"Then where is he?" Young asked, looking up at the display as it changed to show Destiny. "What section of the ship did the program vent the atmosphere from?"

"There," said Rush. The display zoomed in on the pyramid like structure of Destiny, and showed a corridor of the structure. "This is where the program vented the atmosphere."

"The logs confirm it too," Brody added. "The elevator Eli probably used was transported to that same section of the ship."

Young raised his radio, "Lt. Scott, Sergeant Greer, gather up a search party and meet me over at the mess hall. TJ, I need you there too." He lowered his radio and pointed at Rush, "Get that elevator working, and do what you can to get that section filled with air, now." Young turned and started heading into the corridor, but Rush stopped him.

"There's a problem with that." Rush pushed a few buttons, but the control panel responded with an error message.

"What is it?" Young asked, very impatient now.

"You're going to have to manually activate the elevator. It won't respond to any commands. Not only that, but I can't say for sure if it'll send you to the right place."

"Why not?"

"Because we haven't even explored that part of the ship, much less even studied or used the elevators properly," Brody answered. "Most of the elevators on the ship are inoperable, and the one's that are working are in sealed sections of the ship…and most of those are in that part of the ship, where there's no breathable atmosphere."

"If Eli could figure out how to get air inside one corridor in that section of the ship," said Young, "and get the elevator to send him to that corridor, then I'm sure you'll be able to do the same. Now, get to work." And with that, Young departed.

Rush shook his head, and began to work on an override program.

ͼͽ

Greer and Scott had already gathered a search team and were waiting for Young outside of the mess hall. Chloe came around the corner, "Matt!"

Scott turned his head as Chloe came to stand by his side, "Hey."

"Hey," she said smiling at him. "What's going on? Where are you guys going?"

Scott indicated the elevator door adjacent to the mess hall entrance, "Seems Eli used that elevator to send himself to a sealed section of the ship. Rush thinks he found another way to put himself in stasis."

"So then he's still alive?" Chloe asked.

Scott shrugged, "Maybe."

Chloe turned to Greer, "By the way, Greer, didn't you say you found a note in Eli's quarters?"

Greer nodded, "Yeah, but it ain't your typical farewell note."

"What does it say?" asked Scott.

Greer pulled out the piece of paper from one of his vest pockets and read the letter, "All it says is, 'I've sent a message through the gate. Hopefully, the people who find it are friendly. You should be the first one's to find out.'" He folded the paper back up and put it in his pocket again

Young had walked down the corridor to join up with them as Greer finished reading the letter, "Doesn't seem like anyone's found his message yet. Let's hope it stays that way," Young said. He lifted the radio up, "Rush, how's it coming?"

"The override program's not working," Rush's voice answered over the radio. "You're going to have to manually open it yourselves."

"Alright, walk us through it then," said Young.

"Hang on," Chloe said as she stepped toward the elevator door. "I think I know what to do."

Tamara Johansen joined them, "Hey. I heard we found where Eli is."

"We won't know yet for sure until we get there," replied Young.

"Let's just hope that we do find him," said Scott.

Young nodded, and lifted his radio again, "Rush, if we do find him, how will we revive him?"

"Simple," answered Rush, "once oxygen is reintroduced into the environment, the body will automatically restart."

Greer shook his head, "I'm still havin' trouble figuring out how Eli managed to survive for two years before doin' this to himself. Two years, alone, and rationing your food and water."

"If we do find him," Young said, "you can ask him that yourself." Greer nodded. He and the rest of the search team all raised their weapons as the elevator door opened.

"Good work Chloe," said Young. Chloe stepped inside, followed by Greer, Scott, Young and TJ. A few of the marines entered as well.

"Rush, we've got the elevator open," Young spoke into the radio.

"Good. I'm overriding the elevators systems to send you to where Eli went, now." Rush set aside the radio, and entered commands into the control panel for the elevator.

The elevator doors suddenly closed, and the small space filled with a brilliant light. Then the light faded as quickly as it came. A red light flashed above the elevator door. "Pressurizing the corridor," Rush's voice came over the radio. "Venting in oxygen atmosphere now. The doors should open automatically once it's safe." No sooner had Rush finished talking, the light above the elevator doors turned green, and the doors opened. Greer, Scott, and the marines raised their weapons cautiously. Scott stepped out into the corridor first. He quickly pointed his weapon to the left, in the direction of an empty corridor, and then pointed it back towards the corridor in front of him.

"Clear," he said and lowered his weapon. Young, TJ, and Chloe stepped out into the corridor. The marines followed. As soon as the last marine exited the elevator, the elevator doors closed.

"Rush," Young spoke into his radio.

"Don't worry Col." Rush replied over the radio, "It's only returning for the other marines."

"Keep the doors open next time," Young said. Lowering the radio, he looked around, down the corridor in front of him and down the corridor to his left, "I don't see him anywhere."

Greer called down from the end of the corridor left of the elevator, "Nothin' here, sir! Just another empty hallway!"

Scott called back as well, "Sir, I found a Kino."

TJ called down from the corridor directly in front of the elevator, "It's a dead end here too! There's a room over here, but it looks like it's empty!"

"Looks like he's not here, sir," said Scott as he walked back and handed the Kino to Young. "One things for sure though," he said and motioned towards a window nearby. "He would've had a hell of a view."

Young turned the Kino around in his hand as he peered outside the window. The trillions of stars in the galaxy all winked and twinkled. Some were red, some were blue. Others were yellow, while others still were white. Greer and TJ rejoined the group as the elevator doors opened, and the remaining marines of the search team stepped out. Greer sighed, "If he isn't here, sir, then where the hell can he be?"

"I don't know," Young answered shaking his head slowly. "But one things for sure…we won't stop looking until we find him."

ͼͽ

Brody stood at his control panel, switching between logs and power readings. Suddenly, the screen changed, and Brody, reading what it said, looked confused. "O-kay, that's new."

Volker looked up from his wireless control panel, "What is it? You find something?"

"Yeah…" Brody read what the screen was showing him, "I just found another set of logs."

"Okay, so?" Volker said, returning his gaze to the wireless control panel.

"It's telling me that, Eli's program was already running by the second week after Destiny jumped.

Volker paused and looked up again, "So he was already using that corridor as his stasis pod?"

"Yeah, according to these logs," Brody brought the new set of logs up onto the display, "Eli had already vented the atmosphere of that corridor after the second week. The corridor was already flooded with the vacuum of space even before Destiny dropped out of FTL."

"And?" Rush entered the conversation, "Why is that surprising to you?"

"Well, for one thing, Eli didn't enter a command into the program to have Destiny revive him," answered Brody. "The logs say…that Destiny automatically activated the power before it dropped out of FTL."

Rush shook his head, "That's not possible."

"Hang on," Volker said, "yes it is." Rush looked at him, "Remember when Destiny started actually giving Col. Young those dreams? And then later we found out that it was all a simulation?"

"Yeah," Brody replied, "Destiny automatically started that simulation program."

Rush nodded, "Alright, fine. You're right, but what does this have to do with anything?"

"Well…" Brody shrugged and looked at Volker, and then back at Rush again, "It's just a theory, but maybe Destiny's becoming aware of us. Maybe the ship actually knows that it needs us to survive."

"A good theory," said Rush. He sighed, "But, I highly doubt that the ship has a conscience. It's a machine, Mr. Brody, not a living creature." Rush knew Brody was right, that Destiny was aware of the crew, that it had a conscience. But Rush wanted to maintain his air of skepticism, so that they wouldn't know that he already knew.

Young's voice sounded over the radio, "Rush, this is Young."

Rush picked up his radio, "This is Rush, go ahead."

"No sign of Eli. But there was a Kino up there. I'm on my way back to the interface room with the Kino."

"No other messages that Eli could have left behind in the corridor?" asked Rush.

"Negative. Just the Kino. Young out."

Rush put down his radio. He sighed, silently saying, "Where can you be, Eli?"

ͼͽ

_"Well, Destiny came out of FTL about twenty minutes ago," _Eli said. He stood in front of a window, gazing out across the length of Destiny, out at the galaxy. _"It revived me just before dropping out, which is…kinda weird considering I didn't put that command in my program."_ He paced down the corridor, the Kino followed alongside him, _"But I didn't waste any time. I checked how much power we had left. There's enough to reach the next star to refuel…but I'd rather not take any chances."_ He stopped in front of another window, _"I dialed the only gate within range of Destiny, and sent a distress signal through on all frequencies. Hopefully there's some kind of advanced race on the other end that knows what a distress signal is."_ Eli looked out through the window again before looking down at his watch, _"Let's just hope their friendly, and that it doesn't take them a thousand years to figure out the distress signal."_ Eli coughed, and a faint hissing noise could be heard in the background, _"The rooms filling up pretty fast with hydrogen sulfide. It was a last minute, kind of a eureka moment two weeks into the jump. Rush will probably know what it means when he finds the program I made."_ Eli coughed again, and slumped against the window. His eyes began to close, _"I also programmed it to vent the atmosphere in here and fill it with the vacuum of space. I only hope I know what I'm doing. I don't even want to think about what would happen it I'm doing this wrong."_ Eli slowly slid down the wall to the floor beneath the window, _"I'll…see you guys on…the other side…"_ Hiss eyes closed and his body went completely slack against the wall. The Kino continued to focus on Eli's seemingly lifeless body before the footage faded to black.

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Chloe wiped the tears from her eyes, "So, is he really dead?" Much of the crew stood in the control room. All of them were there to see the last Kino footage of Eli as they knew him.

Rush shook his head, "Don't worry. It only appears that Eli is dead."

"Hydrogen sulfide…" Doctor Lisa Park said as she stared blankly through her blacked out sunglasses. "He's a genius."

"What does it do?" Varro asked.

"It reduces the bodies metabolic activity to the point where the body becomes dormant," Rush answered. "All his major organs went dormant, including his brain. He only appears to be dead and lifeless, but once oxygen reenters his body and bloodstream, his body will automatically reactivate."

"And coupled with filling the corridor with the vacuum of space," Park added, "Eli's body would become frozen, almost like we were in stasis. Metabolic activity halted, and then the body becomes dormant and is frozen in the pods."

"But, if he was in that corridor the whole time we were drifting," Chloe began, "why didn't we find him there?"

"Maybe there's something we're missing," Scott said.

"The distress signal," said Rush.

"What?" Young asked, looking over at Rush.

"The distress signal Eli sent out before he went back into the corridor." Rush clicked a button on the control panel.

"What are you doing?" Young looked back at the display as the picture started to change.

"Seems the Kino activated…" Rush said as Eli appeared on the display again, "just minutes before we were revived."

"I'm telling you, Doctor Rush," Brody said, "The ship knows it needs us."

Rush didn't respond. The room fell silent as everyone watched the footage.

The Kino angled upwards away from Eli, to show the window again. The galaxy was much more closer this time than it was before the Kino stopped recording. Suddenly, a small circular area of the galaxy began to ripple, like rippling rings on water after a pebble has been thrown into it. The circular area began to bend forward, distorting and stretching the light from the stars in that area. Then, a ship appeared, emerging out of the distorted area of the galaxy.

"What the hell…" Varro said quietly.

The ship drifted closer to Destiny. The Kino zoomed in on the ship. Its design was very different from any design that they have yet seen. But something about it seemed strangely familiar. A beam of light appeared from the front end of the ship. It was much smaller than Destiny, and two different colors; the top half a dark green, and the bottom and underside an odd shade of white. The ship itself was long. It was bulbous and curvy; all of its edges were rounded. The front of the ship had a blocky and shovel-like appearance, but the edges were very rounded and bulbous. Two small thin and rounded wings protruded near the end of the ship. There did not appear to be any windows near the front of the ship, but some were visible of each side whenever the ship would make a slight turn to one side. The ship disappeared from view on the left side of the window as it went around the ship before reappearing on the right side of the window, this time much closer. The spotlight shown into the window. The footage was white for a few seconds before the light turned off. The ship was still there, but suddenly a faint flash of light appeared quickly at the bottom of the screen before disappearing just as quickly. The Kino angled its focus downwards to where Eli was, or where he should have been. There was nothing but and empty floor. The Kino angled back up again, but the ship had already moved off.

"They took Eli," Greer said out load to himself.

The green engines of the ship gradually became brighter green as the same area of the galaxy began to ripple again, and bulge outward towards the ship. The ship accelerated forward, quickly disappearing into the bubble, and the area snapped back into a subtle rippling motion before finally it settled. A few seconds go by as the Kino continued to focus outside the window. Then, lights all over Destiny began to turn on, and Destiny was reactivated. The footage goes black again.

The room is silent for a few moments. Then, without a word, some seemed to come out of a trance, and left the control room.

"So…" Rush says after the silence, "Now we know where Eli is. Sorry, now we know who has him."

"Like Eli said," Greer said, turning to face Young, "'Let's hope they're friendly.'"

Young nodded, "And let's hope we can find them soon enough. Rush, where did Eli send the distress signal to?"

"The only gate within dialing range," Rush answered.

Young nodded, "Okay. Lt. Scott, Sgt. Greer, and Brody, you're with me in the bridge."

"We're going to jump?" asked Rush.

"We're going to jump," Young answered. "You said we only have three days worth of power?

"Enough to make the jump and refuel at the next star closest to the gate," said Rush."

"Good." Young turned and headed towards the bridge, Scott, Greer and Brody following.

Volker stood at his control panel, staring down at the screen. An image of the alien ship that took Eli was on the screen. He leaned forward, studying the ship carefully.

Rush noticed this from the corner of his eye, and glanced over at him, "What is it now, Mr. Volker?"

Volker shook his head slowly, "I don't know, but something about that ship seems familiar. I feel like I've seen it somewhere."

Rush smirked, "Another wild idea, huh?"

"No," Volker said as he straightened up again looking Rush dead in the eye, "I'm serious. I really do feel like I've seen it some…" He trailed off as a realization came over him.

"What?" Rush asked, his interest slightly stirred.

"The ship destroyed by the lava," Volker said quietly. He turned a dial on his control panel, and files upon files appeared on the screen.

"You're saying that the ship we saw in the footage," Rush began to pester Volker for what he thought was a wild idea, "a ship that none of us have ever seen, looks familiar to you? That you've seen a similar ship before?"

Volker ignored him, and browsed through the files. He stopped, and brought up his screen on the display, "Look."

Rush looked at the display, expecting to be able to dismiss Volker's idea, but he stopped. His jaw dropped slightly.

ͼͽ

Chloe is in her quarters, lying on her bed. Her eyes were closed, but she was not asleep. She sighed, opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She looked out the window, just as Destiny jumped into FTL. She couldn't stop thinking about what the aliens might be doing with Eli. _Why did they take only Eli?_ Chloe thought to herself. _Why didn't they take all of us?_ The door to her quarters signaled that someone was standing outside. She got up and walked over to the door, opening it, expecting this all to be a dream, and that Eli was standing on the other side.

But it wasn't Eli, and it wasn't a dream. Camille Wray stood in front of her, smiling. "Hey," Wray said.

"Hey." Chloe smiled back.

"The communication stones are ready," said Wray.

Chloe nodded, "Okay." She looked down at the floor nervously.

Wray noticed this, "What's wrong, Chloe?"

Chloe shook her head, "I-I just don't know what I'll say to his mom." She stepped out of her room into the corridor, and followed Wray to the communication stones room.

"Well, she already knows about the Destiny, and the situation that we're all in," Wray said, "so don't hesitate to tell her everything you need to. I'm not sure how she might take the news that Eli was taken by aliens, but I think that she needs to know what has happened to her son."

Chloe nodded, "Okay. But, what if she starts asking questions that I can't answer?" They entered the communication stones room. Lt. Vanessa James sat at the computer monitoring the stones. She looked up as they walked in.

"Don't worry," Wray answered, "I'm sure that you'll find a way to answer her. I'll be on Earth too, so if you need anything, call me."

Chloe nodded silently, and glanced over at Lt. James. "The stones are ready if you guys are," Lt. James said.

Wray looked at Chloe, "You ready?"

Chloe hesitated for a moment before she picked up the stone and placed it on the device just as Wray placed hers on the device as well.

ͼͽ

Chloe looked down at the mirror that was on the table in front of her. She was in another woman's body, but she vaguely recognized her face.

"General O'Neill?" Chloe looked to her left, and saw that it was Col. Samantha Carter. She looked in front of her, and Jack was standing on the other side of the table, as well as Daniel, and Teal'c. "What the hell's going on? Why aren't we on Earth?"

"Whose body am I in?" Chloe asked.

"Ah, Chloe, I presume?" Daniel said. Chloe nodded her head. "You're in Vala Mal Doran's body. She's ah, someone we kinda added to our team a little while back. Sorry, everyone at the SGC is pretty occupied at the moment, so we had to bring in someone else."

"You sent Col. Carter and Vala over to Destiny?" Wray asked.

"Relax, Camille," Jack said holding up his hands. "We had a breach of security…planetary…security, to be exact."

"What?" Chloe and Wray exclaimed simultaneously.

Daniel sighed, "The Lucian Alliance…has hit DC."

Wray put her hand to her mouth, utterly shocked.

"But, how?" Chloe asked.

"The bomb they planted three years ago that we managed to disable was a decoy," Jack stated, walking around the table to stand next to Wray. "By the time we found out about the first bomb, they were already planting the next one in DC."

"Oh God," Chloe said. "How many people were-?"

Daniel cut her off, "We estimate about two hundred and fifty thousand were killed in the blast. We can't say for sure, but that's the best guess we have. The President wasn't there at the time, but the Lucian Alliance took over the city."

"This wasn't the news I was expecting after three years," Wray said.

"Well," Jack said, rocking back and forth on his feet, "if you guys had checked in a day earlier, then your welcome back party would be a bit different."

"But, we just came out of stasis five hours ago," said Wray. "Destiny managed to reach the galaxy two years ago, but it didn't revive us until Eli was taken."

Jack blinked, "Eli was what, now? He's still alive? Landry told me that Eli said himself he probably wouldn't make the whole jump."

"Eli found another way to put himself in stasis," Chloe answered. "Then, just before Destiny revived us, an alien ship came and took Eli. We don't even know where they went."

"We've never seen the kind of drive technology that race has," Wray added. "They took Eli, and they just…vanished into some kind of…" She looked over at Chloe.

"Some kind of portal that looked like a bubble," Chloe finished for her.

"A bubble?" Jack asked. He glanced at Daniel, who shrugged.

"O'Neill." Jack turned to face Teal'c, "Are there not more pressing issues that we must discuss with them?"

"Ah," said Jack, "right. C'mon." He turned and walked out of the room, Teal'c and Daniel following behind. Chloe and Wray looked at each other before standing up from their chairs and quickly following.

ͼͽ

Back on Destiny, on the bridge, Col. Young sat in the helm chair while Col. Carter and Vala, in Chloe and Wray's bodies, gazed at the ancient technology of Destiny's bridge before them. "This is absolutely incredible," said Sam, who was sitting at the control panel that Brody had relinquished to her. "This technology predates any other Ancient technology that we've come across over the years, yet it's all so similar."

"What does this button do?" asked Vala as she reached over Sam's right shoulder for a large, blue button that was glowing.

Brody, who was standing to Sam's left, quickly stopped her, "Don't touch anything! That's used to charge the main weapons systems."

"Oh," Vala said. She withdrew her hand, but continued to gaze in awe at the technology before her.

"Col. Carter," said Young, "I understand that you have something to tell us?"

"Oh! Right." Sam swiveled around in the chair to face Young, and stood up, allowing Brody to sit back in the chair. Her face grew stern, and she sighed, "This might not be the kind of news you would want to hear after just being revived from stasis."

"Trust me," said Young, "I've been hearing a lot of bad news since we stepped onto this ship, and I took command."

"Okay." Sam glanced down at the floor quickly before looking back at Young. "The Lucian Alliance has hit DC, and is currently in control of DC. They detonated a bomb this morning, near the Capitol Building."

"God damn it." Young leaned forward and put his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes. "Seems like we're not the only one's having problems."

"What?" Vala asked. "You mean, you people have bad news for us too?" She looked at Brody, then Greer, and back to Young. "But you people have been doing…nothing, but sleeping for three years. How could you have problems already after just waking up?"

"We've only got enough power left to maintain a three day FTL jump to the closest Stargate," Brody answered. "We're not sure if we'll even be able to reach that systems' star to refuel after dropping out of FTL. We'll probably have burned all the power by the time we drop out in range of the Stargate, but not the star. At least, that's what we think."

"And not only that," Greer added, "some aliens decided to kidnap one of our friends."

"Who?" Sam asked.

Young answered her, "Eli."

"Eli? But I thought he said he won't survive the whole jump," said Sam.

"He found another way of putting himself in stasis," Brody replied. "You see, he transported himself to a sealed off section of the ship, replaced all the breathable air in there with hydrogen sulfide, and then vented it all out when his body shut down all metabolic activity and exposed the section to the vacuum of space."

Vala furrowed her eyebrows, "He what?" She looked at Sam, "What's hydrogen sulfide?"

"The kid's a genius," Sam said, not hearing Vala.

"And that's probably why those damn aliens took him," Greer stated. "They knew he was smart." He looked out the bridge window, "And they're probably making him work his ass off to do all their dirty work."

"We don't know that Sergeant," Young said. "All we know is that they took him. We don't even know that they're hostile aliens."

"What's hydrogen sulfide?" Vala asked again, but still no one heard her.

"So, what's you're next move going to be?" asked Sam.

"First, we get need to get to that Stargate and reach the star in that system and refuel," Young replied. "Then, we'll figure out how we're going to find these aliens, and have them return our man peacefully. We don't want to start another confrontation with an alien species, whose technology we know nothing about."

Just then, Rush entered the bridge, "Actually," he began, and everyone turned to face him, "I believe we do know who these aliens are."

Young looked at him, a hint of suspicion crossing his face, "What are you talking about? You saw the ship, it looks nothing like anything we've ever seen."

Rush held up a finger to hold Young on that thought, "Aye, that's where you're wrong, and frankly, I was wrong myself." He walked passed the helm chair, and sat down in one of the control chairs. After a few clicks of a couple buttons, the overhead display screens dropped from the ceiling, and a diagram appeared on the screen. Everyone looked up at the screens. "This is a schematic, or blueprint of one of the ships from the planet Novus. The ships that their descendant's built," he said indicating Young and everyone else. He turned a dial on the control panel, and an image of the alien ship that took Eli appeared next to the diagram of the Novus ship. "And this is the ship we saw in the Kino footage, the one that took Eli right before Destiny revived us."

Brody stood up, his jaw hung as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Young studied the two images carefully, also in a state of disbelief.

"What…the hell?" Greer said. He shook his head, "No, that ain't possible."

"I said the same thing myself," Rush stated.

"They look…similar," Sam said. "And the diagram is from-?"

Rush cut her off, "The previous galaxy. The galaxy that their descendants colonized and called their home galaxy."

"How's this possible?" asked Young. "Eli said the Novus ships weren't capable of an FTL jump, much less not even have that kind of technology."

"I know what Eli said," said Rush. He pointed to the display screen, "But the Kino footage isn't lying, nor has it been tampered with. I'm still trying to believe it myself. I don't have an explanation for this, unfortunately."

"What does that mean, then?" Vala asked, utterly confused?

Brody heard her this time and answered her, "It means that the people from the galaxy that we left three years ago, somehow managed to travel across the massive void between that galaxy and this galaxy…without the capability of traveling like Destiny does."

"But, they were you're descendants, right?" Vala asked, still confused. "Surely they were just as smart as you people are. I'm sure they came up with some means of galactic travel that even rivals this ships…umm, whatever you call it."

"FTL," Rush stated, "Faster Than Light travel. There's no other drive technology that can match the kind Destiny possesses, not counting the Seed ships and the other ships the Ancients launched into the universe before Destiny."

"Well, maybe they found one of those Ancient ships," Vala said. "And maybe they combined their technology with this, FTL technology from one of those ships..." She looked at Rush, then at Sam and Brody, "No?"

"Not possible," Rush said, dismissing Vala's theory. "It would've taken them centuries to even travel to reach one even if they did find one. They only just built those ships a few decades ago, and they only built three of them."

"One of them was destroyed by lava that resulted from the planet being ripped apart by a black hole," Brody added. "The other two are heading to another planet the Novus people colonized. But with their drive technology, it'll take them two hundred years or so to reach that planet."

The bridge got quiet for a moment as they began to realize that they were diving deeper and deeper into a big mystery as they investigated and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Å

End Chapter 1


	2. Fate & Preservation

**EDIT: 2/14/2012**

**Hello fellow SGU fans! Chapter 2, Fate & Preservation has been edited and new material has been added! Most of the content is still the same, and the story is still very much just the same. But I have reread everything, edited, added some new things here and there and replaced the original Chapter 2 with the new and improved Chapter 2! Hope you guys enjoy a better read with the improved Chapter 2! Oh, and I am removing the M Rating for this story, as I have edited out the adult content. So now, SGU fans of ALL AGES can enjoy the read!**

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><p><em>Hello fans of Stargate Universe. The name's sheesh.<em>

_This is the story of our friends onboard the Destiny, 3 years after they made the fateful FTL jump from one galaxy, to another. We follow them as their jouney continues through this new, and strange galaxy. What mysteries await them? What sort of alien species will they encounter, and wil they be hostile? And what has become of the one man we have come to know and love as the incredibly smart, Eli Wallace? Has he survived the jump? Or did the crew wake up too late? To find out the answers to these questions, read the story that could have been, the story that many of us SGU fans would love to see finished._

_This is a fan fiction that I have been working on for the last few months. Forgive me if you see mistakes here and there, as I have been a novice writer for about 6 years now. Since I learned while watching the season 2 finale that there would no longer be new episodes, I was haunted with many, many questions about where the story of the Destiny would go, and what would become of the characters we have come to love. After giving it some thought, I decided I would write my take on a season 3 of Stargate Universe. This is a fan fiction, written by a fan, for the fans. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. This is the biggest project I've ever done. Please, I only ask one thing from those of you who read it...**REVIEWS!** Again, I'm still a novice writer, and I need...would like reviews from other fans ands readers about my writings. If there is something that you did or did not like, please tell me in your review, so that I may improve upon it in future chapters. Again, **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_

**Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum**

**This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.**

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><p>717/11

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Fate & Preservation

For three days, while Destiny crossed the rest of the expanse to reach the nearest Stargate at the edge of the galaxy, everyone of the crew used the stones to catch up with loved ones back on Earth after their three year absence. Chloe returned to Earth again to tell Eli's mother the news about her son. While reunions were celebrated back on Earth, special guests got to see Destiny, one for the first time.

Two of those guests, just a day before Destiny was to reach the nearest solar system with a Stargate, were Doctor Rodney McKay and Colonel John Sheppard. Young and Scott lead them on a tour of the ship, but mostly for Sheppard. They entered the control room where Rush and Brody were working.

"Dr. Rush," Young said, "this is Colonel John Sheppard. And Dr. McKay you've already met."

Sheppard nodded his head at Rush, while McKay approached Rush with an outstretched hand, his face lit up with excitement.

Rush shook Rodney's hand, "Dr. Rush," McKay said, "it's great to see you again."

Rush smirked, "Really? Why's that?"

McKay paused, a bit confused, "Well, I mean, we weren't really expecting to ever see you guys again. We really thought you guys were going to be sleeping for another nine hundred and ninety-seven years." McKay looked around, "What happened to the kid genius?"

Sheppard closed his eyes and shook his head slowly in disappointment.

The smirk disappeared from Rush's face, "He's not onboard anymore."

Young stepped into the conversation before McKay could ask anymore questions, "Dr. McKay, Eli was transported off of the ship by an unknown alien species before Destiny revived us. We don't know if they're hostile, don't know where they went after they took Eli, and we don't know what kind of technology they have."

The excitement faded from McKay's face, "Oh, well…I didn't…know."

"C'mon McKay," Sheppard said. "Sam told you everything before we even got here."

"Oh, right." McKay seemed to realize something, for he snapped his fingers a couple times, "Samantha did say you have footage of this alien race's ship." Rush nodded his head, "If you don't mind, I'd like to see it."

"I've got it here Dr. McKay," Brody said.

McKay quickly strode over to Brody, "Good, good. Now, how do I…where's the play button?"

"So," said Rush, looking up at Sheppard, "what brings you here, Col. Sheppard?"

Sheppard shifted his weight from his left leg to his right, "Well, ya know." He motioned at McKay, "McKay likes to push a lot of buttons. Figured I keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't cause any trouble."

"Aye." Rush nodded his head, "So, what are you going to do with your, flying city, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, the ZPM's after the jump are pretty much depleted," Sheppard answered. "Don't think Atlantis will be flying again anytime soon."

"How are you guys keeping it a secret anyway?" Young asked. "No one's spotted it floating in the ocean yet, right?"

"It's got a cloak," Sheppard replied. "Make's it undetectable to anything."

"That's something we could use," Rush said sarcastically. "But this was built before the city, and before cloaking devices were invented."

"Yeah, how old is this ship anyway?" asked Sheppard.

"We think Destiny was being built a couple hundred thousand years before Atlantis was," Brody answered. McKay's eyes were plastered to the screen on the control panel, watching and studying the Kino footage carefully.

"This ship," Rush added, "predates anything that we know the Ancients built. It's the most primitive of any Ancient technology we've found in the Milky Way, and the Pegasus galaxies."

"And why's it all the way out here?" asked Sheppard.

Young answered him this time, "Rush found some kind of static noise in the cosmic background noise. He's saying that it shouldn't be there, and that it sounds man-made."

"And it is man-made," Rush stated. "Either that or some other form of intelligent life form made it. Look, I can't say for sure that I'm right, but I do know for a fact that that static should not be in there. It shouldn't exist. There's a pattern in it that could only have been created by something with intelligence."

"So, you're suggesting that…" he briefly glanced at Young, "there is a God?" Sheppard looked at Rush a little skeptically.

McKay looked up, "What's that about?"

"No," said Rush, "I'm not suggesting anything about a God, just something of higher intelligence."

"What are you talking about now?" McKay asked.

"Maybe you'd like to go show Dr. McKay what you found Rush," Young said.

Rush sighed, "Very well. Follow me Dr." He walked out of the control room with McKay hot on his heels.

Sheppard smiled as he watched McKay follow Rush, "He's like a kid in a candy store when he finds some new piece of old technology."

Young nodded, also watching McKay, "Yeah, we have a couple of those too." He looked back at Sheppard, "Come on, I'll show you the observation deck."

ͼͽ

The next day, Destiny reached the designated star system. Power reserves were checked, and it was determined that there was enough left to guide Destiny to the star to refuel. Young had Volker set a course to the star, while Scott gathered a team to explore the planet in range with a Stargate.

Rush stood at the control panel in the Gate room. Young walked up to stand beside him, "So, this is the planet that Eli managed to dial after Destiny dropped out of FTL a year ago, right?"

Rush nodded as he started to dial the Gate, "Aye. The only habitable planet at the edge of this galaxy, with a Stargate. But this is very strange…"

Young glanced at him, "What?"

"This is the only solar system with a Stargate on a habitable planet within a three hundred light-year radius," answered Rush.

Young shrugged his shoulders, "So?"

"The seed ships normally plant Stargates on planets at every fifty or a hundred light-years from one another," Rush replied.

Volker's voice came over the radio, "Dr. Rush?"

Rush picked up his radio, "Go ahead Mr. Volker."

The radio was silent for a couple seconds before Volker replied, "I'm not sure if Destiny's sensors are functioning correctly, but...I'm seeing thousands of Stargates throughout this entire galaxy."

Rush looked at Young, "That can't be right." He spoke into the radio, "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Volker replied, "I checked the readouts five times before I contacted you."

Rush placed his radio down, and pulled up the Stargate map of the new galaxy. "This can't be right. Seed ships don't put this many Stargates in a single galaxy." Young leaned over to look at the map. "Seed ships stay on a defined path through the galaxy. They don't just stop and drop Stargates on every single planet."

Volker's voice came up on the radio again, "I'm seeing something else, Dr. Rush." The radio went silent for a moment before Volker spoke again, "There's a bunch of Stargates that are a different color than the rest, and they're in a straight line."

"The Stargates the seed ships dropped?" Young asked.

"Aye," Rush nodded, "I think so."

The gate completed its dialing sequence, and activated. Scott and Greer looked back at Young. He gave them the okay with a nod of his head. They went through, and the gate deactivated. Young looked back down at the map of Stargates on the control panel screen. Volker was right, a line of Stargates that when through the middle of the galaxy were of a tan color, while the thousands, if not more, of other Stargates were white. "So what does this mean?"

"I'm not sure," Rush answered, "but I think I have an idea." He grabbed his radio and quickly exited the Gate room. Young followed him to the control room.

"Ah, Dr. Rush," Volker said looking up from his control panel. "I think I know why there are so many gates in this galaxy."

"Aye," Rush said as he took his place at his control panel, "Seems the colored gates are the original gates dropped by a seed ship, while the white one's are new gates."

Volker blinked, "Yeah…I was just gonna say that."

"New gates?" Young asked. He studied the chart on the holographic display of all the Stargates in the galaxy.

"This may sound crazy," said Rush, "but I think there might be an intelligent race in this galaxy that has found a way to produce their own Stargates. That, or…" He trailed off.

Young glanced over at Rush, "Or?"

"Or an intelligent race has discovered the seed ship, and manufactured Stargates that way," Rush answered.

"Doesn't sound crazy at all," Young replied, returning his gaze to the Stargate chart. "We've seen crazier things before. Looks like another Milky Way, if you ask me."

"Aye," said Rush, "that's exactly what it looks like."

Volker looked up at Rush, "You're not saying this is the Milky Way, right? Cause I don't see Earth's address on this chart anywhere, or any address similar to Earth's."

Young took a step closer to the display, "But I do." He pointed to a white Stargate, near the center of the galaxy.

Rush pressed a few buttons, and the area Young pointed to enlarged. "That can't be Earth. It's no where near the center of the Milky Way."

"But Col. Young is right," Volker stated. "Look." He switched a button, and the faint gate addresses above the gates grew brighter. "Every other Stargate in this galaxy has an eight symbol address…this one only has seven…just like Earth's address."

"Just like all of the Milky Way addresses," Young added.

Rush took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He sighed, "What in bloody hell is going on?"

Young turned and faced Rush, crossing his arms over his chest, "Looks like this mystery just keeps getting bigger. Fate seems to be playing a big role on this leg of the trip."

Rush nodded, "Fate indeed."

ͼͽ

Scott and Greer, and the rest of the team made their way through the thicket of small trees that looked very similar to pine trees. But the bigger and older trees were twice as tall as the Sequoia trees on Earth.

"Man," Greer said, craning his head all the way back to gaze up at the trees, "those are some damn big trees."

"Yeah," said Scott as he passed Greer. "Don't think anything can grow that tall back on Earth."

"Lt. Scott!" shouted one of the marines. "Over here!"

Greer and Scott quickly made their way over to where the rest of the team had gathered. They had reached the tree line at the top of a large hill, and a massive mountain valley stretched out on both sides of them.

The marine pointed towards the end of the valley, and handed Scott a pair of binoculars, "Eleven o'clock. Just above the tops of those trees."

Scott peered through the binoculars to where the marine had pointed. Poking just above the trees were skyscrapers…and from what Scott could see, a massive city sprawled behind those buildings. Scott handed the binoculars to Greer, "Wow, that's one hell of a big city. Looks like it covers the floor of this entire valley, maybe even outside of the valley."

"And from what I'm seeing," Greer said still looking through the binoculars, "looks like there's still people home."

Just then, three strange vehicles sped overhead towards the city. Scott and Greer and the other marines kneeled down amongst the small saplings.

Greer handed the binoculars back to Scott, who tracked the vehicles. Scott pulled the binoculars away from his face, and looked at Greer confused. Without saying anything, he handed the binoculars to Greer. He looked through them and studied the vehicles. Glancing to the side at Scott he said, "What the hell?"

"I was going to say the same thing," Scott said, smiling. He looked over at the marine on his left, "Corporal, you got that Kino?" The marine nodded, unzipped a small pack on his waist, and took out a Kino and control device. He handed them to Scott.

Scot released the Kino, and it shot off like a bullet after the flying vehicles. Greer walked over to Scott, and looked over his shoulder down at the screen of the Kino feed. Within a couple seconds, the Kino was flying behind the vehicles. To Scott's and Greer's surprise, they were looking vehicles that looked very similar to vehicles they were familiar with back on Earth. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Greer?" Scott asked, looking at Greer from the corner of his eye.

Greer nodded and pointed to the vehicle on the right side of the screen, "That looks just like my BMW."

The marine that handed Scott the Kino looked up at them, "You're BMW? What do you mean, Sgt.?"

Greer shrugged, "I don't know what the hell is going on, but those things look like cars…" He trailed off.

Scott finished his sentence, "From Earth. Greer's right, one of these things looks like a BMW. And the other two both look…Mercedes or Ferrari's put together."

Greer leaned back and looked at Scott confused, "This can't be Earth. It couldn't have gone this far in three years."

Scott shook his head, "I don't think this is Earth." He pressed a button, and the Kino sped passed the Earth-like flying vehicles, gaining altitude to get a better vantage of the alien city.

Greer looked back at the screen again. Both of them were silent for a moment before Greer spoke, "This looks just like Novus."

All the marines turned to look at Scott and Greer. One of them spoke, "But we left that planet behind three years ago in another galaxy."

Another marine spoke, "And it was being destroyed by a black hole, remember?"

Greer nodded, "We know. But this city looks just like the one we went to on Novus."

Scott looked at Greer, "You don't think-?"

Greer cut him off, "No, it's not possible. They couldn't have made it to this galaxy."

"Something isn't right here," Scott said. "Eli said they didn't have the drive technology to go into FTL." Scott sent the Kino higher, above the mountain valley. Beyond it, the city stretched further and further into the horizon. "It's not possible."

"Yet we're looking at a city that looks just like the one we saw on Novus," Greer stated. He and Scott looked at each other, "We need to get back to Destiny, tell them what we found."

Scott nodded, "I was thinking the same thing. Let's head back to the gate." Scott turned and headed back towards the gate, the marines standing up to follow.

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Greer said as he turned to follow Scott.

Scott nodded, "I guess fate decided we need to spend some more time with our descendants."

ͼͽ

By the time that Scott and Greer and the marines returned, Destiny was heading towards the star to recharge its power reserves.

Col. Young met them in the Gate room, "You're back early."

Scott sighed, "Yeah, well…" He looked directly at Young, "the planet's already occupied."

"By what?" asked Young.

Greer joined the conversation, "The Novus people."

Young blinked, "Are you positive?"

Scott and Greer glanced at one another before looking back at Young, "Yep," they answered simultaneously.

ͼͽ

"How the hell could they have possibly gotten to this galaxy?" Volker asked out loud.

Everyone was gathered on the bridge. No one answered him, because no one knew the answer.

Wray spoke, "Are you sure you two saw a city just like the one on Novus?"

Scott nodded, and Greer added, "We've got video of it."

"Well then let's see it," said Rush.

The Kino footage was played on the screens. Everyone was silent through the entire video. The city was spectacular, larger than the one on Novus, New York City, DC, Mexico City, and Hong Kong combined. It stretched all the way to the horizon, perhaps even farther still. Skyscrapers reached up towards the sky everywhere throughout the city, and traffic in the sky was clearly visible. Large parks were visible as well. When the video was done playing, the bridge was silent. No one knew what to say.

Chloe finally broke the silence, "Maybe, somehow they built a ship with drive capability similar to Destiny's. Maybe Eli just didn't find that information."

Brody shook his head, "No, I've read through a lot of the technology files and documents. There's nothing about any secret space travel technology being developed. Just the three ships without hyper drive capability."

"Then how do you explain their being here?" Young asked.

Brody shrugged, "I can't say."

"Well," Rush said, "Now we know what species has populated this entire galaxy, and spread the Stargates to pretty much every habitable planet."

"Like I said before," Scott stated, "Looks like fate decided we didn't spend enough time with our descendants back in the other galaxy."

"The third ship was destroyed by the lava, right?" Dr. Park asked.

"Aye," Rush replied, "it was."

"What if it wasn't?" Dr. Park asked out loud. "What if the sensor telling us it was still in the hangar was damaged during the evacuation of Novus?"

"What are you suggesting, Dr.?" asked Young.

"I'm thinking that the ship made it out of the hangar," Dr. Park replied. "I think they made it out before it was too late with the rest of the population of Novus."

"But then how do you explain the fact that they managed to get here without FTL?" Wray asked.

"Well, when I found out about the black hole that was ripping Novus apart," Dr. Park answered, "I also read that Novus scientists had discovered an anomaly in an area of space a little ways beyond the planets third moon. They discovered it a hundred fifty years ago, and were studying it ever since."

"What kind of anomaly?" Rush asked.

"They determined it to be a wormhole," Dr. Park replied. "My guess is they took their chances and went through the wormhole. Since they were probably the last ship to leave the planet, they would have been behind the other two ships."

"So you think that they went through this wormhole," Chloe began, "not knowing where they would end up?"

Dr. Park nodded, "They probably decided it was better than arriving at the other planet late about a hundred years or so."

Everyone looked at Rush. He shrugged, "It's possible. But Destiny has yet to locate the other side of this wormhole."

"You mean Destiny found the wormhole in the other galaxy?" Wray asked.

"Aye," answered Rush, "it was an insignificant reading on the sensors, so I disregarded it at the time. But now that I think about it, Destiny did say that it was just beyond the orbit of the third moon."

"So you're saying that the third ship," said Young, "made it off the planet, and ended up here after going through the wormhole?" He glanced at Dr. Park as well.

Rush shrugged again, "It's just a theory, but that's what Dr. Park thinks, as do I."

"It's a plausible theory, at most," Dr. Park added. "I mean, think of the Stargate. We use it to create an artificial wormhole to travel across millions of light-years across space. Who is to say that a natural wormhole doesn't do the same thing?"

"Okay," said Scott, "but how could our descendants have possibly built a massive technologically advanced city from nothing in just thirty years?"

"Why don't we go and ask them?" Rush suggested.

Wray looked at Rush a bit skeptical, "You want to make contact this early?"

"Why not?" asked Rush.

"Uh," Brody said when an alarm sounded on the controls where he was sitting, "the gate's being dialed in from off-planet."

Young stood up, "Everyone to the Gate room now!"

No one argued and quickly made their way to the Gate room.

ͼͽ

When Young reached the Gate room, Scott, Greer and a few other marines already had their weapons aimed at the gate. "You think the people on the planet noticed us gating in?" Young asked as Rush stood at the controls for the gate.

"That's what I was thinking," Rush said nodding.

No sooner had Rush finished his sentence, the gate activated. Scott, Greer and the marines readied their weapons. But nothing happened. No one came through the gate.

Suddenly, Rush's radio hissed with static. Young and Rush both looked down at the radio, then at each other. Again, the radio hissed, but still nothing but static.

Young reached over the gate controls and picked up the radio. He pressed the talk button, and spoke into the radio, "This is Col. Young of the Destiny. Who are you, and how did you know Destiny's gate address?"

A voice came back over the radio, "Good afternoon Col. Young. This is President Eli Wallace VIII. We did not mean to startle you and your crew, but we had no other way of contacting you. We come in peace, we do not mean any harm to our Ancestors."

Young and Rush glanced at each other. Scott and Greer looked over their shoulders at Rush and Young. Young turned his gaze back to the gate, and nodded to Scott and the marines, "Lower your weapons." He lifted up the radio again, "Pardon my rude greeting Mr. President. We just weren't expecting anyone to dial our gate. If you would like, you may come aboard. The gate is open."

"No need to apologize, Col." the President replied.

And then, humans began to come through the gate. A small group of five. Scott and Greer both seemed speechless when they saw…Eli. The President looked shockingly similar to Eli, albeit with a slightly elderly appearance.

Young approached the descendant of Eli and shook his hand, "Welcome aboard the Destiny, Mr. President. It's an honor to have you aboard."

President Wallace replied with a big smile on his face, "Thank you. I've seen this ship only from Kino footage that is next to useless. But this is absolutely amazing." He looked around him as the gate deactivated

"Would you like a tour?" Young asked.

"No thank you," President Wallace answered. He turned back to face Young again, with a stern look on his face, "We must speak in private, you and Dr. Rush. It concerns news about Ancestor Eli Wallace."

Young nodded, "Of course, follow me." He turned and nodded to Rush, who followed him with no argument. The other four strangers followed closely behind.

Scott and Greer looked at each other. Greer shook his head in disbelief with a slight smirk on his face, "Even two thousand years later, his kids still look just like him."

Scott smiled, "Yeah, but that's not the Eli that we're looking for. But he did say something about news of Eli."

"I heard that part, "Greer said slowly nodding his head as he looked after Young and the strangers. "Wonder what they did to him."

ͼͽ

"…and no sooner had our ship entered the system," President Wallace said as his glance fell to the floor, as did the other four humans, "they attacked the ship."

"They?" Rush asked. They had gathered into the observatory for the meeting.

"An alien race that we have never encountered before," President Wallace replied. "But I'm sure you are familiar with them. It is a legend amongst our people that Ancestor Chloe Armstrong was abducted by them."

Young and Rush looked at each other. "Yes, we are familiar with them," Young said. "What happened next?"

President Wallace drew a deep breath and sighed, "Well…they boarded our ship…and forced everyone off the ship, except for our leading scientist…and Ancestor Eli Wallace."

Rush took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "And you have no idea where they have gone to?"

"Actually," President Wallace said, "A day later, we lost contact with our Omega site on a planet near the center of the galaxy." He pulled a device from his coat pocket, and placed it on the floor. He activated it, and a large hologram of the entire galaxy appeared in front of them. One of the stars began to blink, and President Wallace pointed to it, "That is our Omega site. Then, just this morning, one of our scout ships patrolling the outer perimeter of our Delta site's solar system was destroyed." Another star began to blink, right next to the Omega site star.

"You think that they have taken that planet?" Young asked.

"It's highly likely that is what they have done," President Wallace answered nodding his head. "If it is true, then they have access to some of our most advanced weapons and orbital defense systems our civilization has ever created. You'll have a hell of a time trying to get passed the second moon's orbit."

"Well," Rush said as he stood up from the bench he was sitting on, "at least we know that Eli is still alive. Now I have a couple questions I would like to ask you."

President Wallace nodded, "Of course. I'll answer any of your questions."

"First of all," said Rush, "were your people on the last ship to leave Novus?"

The four escorts behind President Wallace nodded, as did President Wallace.

"That confirms my theory," said Rush nodding at Young. "Second question, how have your people developed so fast in just thirty years? How could you build such a massive city in that short amount of time?"

President Wallace sighed, "To be honest, we didn't build the city. It was already there when we arrived through the wormhole a million or so miles away from the planet."

"Another civilization?" asked Young.

"Yes," said President Wallace. "A species that was widespread throughout the entire galaxy, now only exists on a single planet. New Novus, the planet we see here." President Wallace looked out across Destiny's hull at the planet. "They are extinct on all other planets. And they have offered us their cities and technology, on the condition that we preserve their cultures, lifestyles, technologies, and all of their knowledge, as well as taking up their mission of discovering how to destroy the parasites they are infected with. We agreed, as it's the least we could do in return for their hospitality towards us." President Wallace knelt down by the hologram device, and pressed a small button on it. The hologram changed to display a nude, very lizard-like humanoid creature, covered from head to toe in small scales. The head and eyes looked very similar to that of a water monitor, but the body was human-like except for a short tail, which was about an arms length compared to the rest of the body. Claws and talons adorned both the feet and hands

"What are they?" Young asked.

"They call themselves the Petrus'iri," one of the President's escorts answered. "They look reptilian, but they are not. They are mammals."

"Mammals?" asked Rush, a bit skeptical.

"Yes," President Wallace said nodding, "And as of right now, there are only about three thousand of them left in this entire galaxy, and all of them have been cryogenically frozen in many of their own labs across the globe." President Wallace sighed, "Ten thousand years ago, they estimated that their species population was about one hundred and seventy-three trillion in the entire galaxy."

Rush look puzzled, "Their population went from that to just three thousand? In a span of just ten thousand years?" President Wallace nodded. "What's causing the mass extinction?"

The escort that spoke before answered again, "It is called the Jovorda Parasite. This parasite only seems to infect the Petrus'iri, and once infected, it grows within the brain, slowly maturing in a few weeks, causing hallucinations, severe memory loss, and eventual death. And it reduces their mentality to that of a child."

"And it only targets the brain," added President Wallace. "We've been looking for a way to eradicate this parasite ever since we got here. In fact, much of our population is searching for a way to fight this thing. It's become part of our culture to destroy it."

"You're a very determined people," Rush said, "to finding the key to killing this parasite."

"Severe memory loss?" Young asked. "That sounds just like the parasite that nearly killed Dr. McKay in the Pegasus galaxy."

Rush nodded, "Aye, it does."

"So you have dealt with this creature before?" the escort asked.

"Not us, no," Young answered. "Dr. McKay is the leading scientist in Atlantis. He contracted the a parasite that sounds very similar to the one you describe."

"You mean," President Wallace began, "he is still alive?"

Young nodded, "He was onboard via the communications stones just yesterday."

President Wallace and the escorts turned and whispered amongst one another. President Wallace turned back to face Young and Rush again, "I don't know how else to ask, but is it possible for us to know how it is that he survived? Could we possibly…speak with him?"

Young and Rush looked at one another. Rush shrugged, and Young looked back at the President, "Of course. Let me just radio to have the communications stones ready."

ͼͽ

McKay was very reluctant to speak about the days when he was infected with the parasite. But seeing the urgency on President Wallace's face, McKay opened up about his harrowing story, with the reassurance of Dr. Jennifer Keller.

"…do you by any chance have any, um…images of this thing?" McKay asked.

President Wallace nodded, "Yes, we have some brain scan's showing the parasite." President Wallace knelt down next to the hologram device, and pressed a few small buttons on the device. A hologram popped up again, this time showing a three dimensional image of a Petrus'iri brain. It was longer than a human brain, and slightly wider near the back of the brain.

"This is a human brain?" Dr. Keller asked.

"No," the escort said, "this is the brain of a humanoid species that used to inhabit this entire galaxy. Now, it only inhabits this planet because of this parasite. They are reptilian in appearance, but they are in fact mammals, and very similar to humans in more ways than one."

An outline began to blink inside the brain hologram, and President Wallace pointed to it, "There, that is the parasite. It only affects the Petrus'iri." The outlined parasite was gruesome. A small, marble sized head, with many, many long tendrils that snake throughout the entire brain.

Dr. Keller gasped, "My god…it's exactly like the parasite that infected you Rodney."

McKay only stared at the outlined image, knowing all too well what this parasite was capable of. But he was surprised by the size of the parasite. If the Petrus'iri parasite had infected a human, it would have completely covered the human brain with its many tendrils.

"How…how do they contract these parasites?" Dr. Keller asked after a moment.

"The Petrus'iri scientists and doctors say that it starts out in any type of water source, minus glacial ice."

"Just like how I was infected," McKay said. He turned to Dr. Keller, the shock on his face undeniable, "How is this even possible? How can the same exact parasite exist in two completely different galaxies, on opposite sides of the universe?"

No one answered him. No one had an answer, and it was likely to remain that way indefinitely.

Dr. Keller was studying the parasite closely, "You're right McKay, and this parasite…looks identical to the one that infected you."

"Are you sure?" President Wallace asked.

Dr. Keller nodded, "There's no doubt about it."

"If that's true," McKay began, "then that means that it's likely this parasite will have the same weakness as the one in the Pegasus galaxy did."

"So you did destroy it!" the escort exclaimed. "May we know what its weakness is?"

McKay looked at Young, who glanced at President Wallace, "How long did you say this parasite has been ravaging their populations?"

"For about ten thousand years," answered President Wallace. "At least, that's what we can decipher from their historical medical texts, documents and files."

Young sighed, looking down at the floor, "I don't know. Interfering with an alien culture is strictly against the rules for Stargate personnel."

"Oh c'mon Col. Young," McKay said. "Who's gonna know? You're basically on the other side of the universe. The SGC can't touch you."

"He's right, Col." Rush said glancing at Young. "It's been going on for ten thousand years. And their species is nearly non-existent in this universe. Don't you think they deserve a break from this galactic epidemic? Let's make a difference for their people. The Novus people have been searching for decades for an answer and here is a man with the answer, standing before their very own President."

Young looked at Rush sternly, then at McKay, "How was the parasite removed?"

"From what we could tell at the time," McKay began, "it was anti-matter radiation that was being generated at that little shrine that it didn't like. And…it was removed through a hole that Dr. Keller drilled into my forehead when it tried to instinctively escape the radiation."

"Anti-matter radiation?" the escort said, scratching the stubble on his chin.

"Of course!" President Wallace exclaimed. "Why didn't we even think of that?"

Young looked at President Wallace, puzzled, "You mean you have technology that can produce that kind of radiation?"

"Do we?" the escort said. "Anti-matter radiation is the main power source for all the major cities on every planet. No toxic chemicals involved and no harmful gases to expel. It's the cleanest form of energy to ever be invented by our people."

"So the parasite does not like anti-matter radiation," President Wallace said, "is it guaranteed that it will instinctively try to escape the radiation?"

Dr. Keller answered him, "Yes. No sooner had I finished drilling the hole did it start moving towards it."

President Wallace and his escort's excitement was evident. He turned to the only female escort with him, and they began to whisper amongst each other. He turned to face Col. Young again, "With your permission, Col. Young, we'd like to return to the surface. We must tell all of our scientists and doctors of what you have told us. We can finally give the Petrus'iri the fighting chance they need against this epidemic."

Young nodded, "Of course." He raised his radio and spoke, "Lt. Scott, the Novus people are ready to return through the gate. Please escort them to the gate room."

Scott's voice answered over the radio, "Will do, sir."

Dr. Rush took off his glasses, "I just have one more question, Mr. President."

"Of course, what is it?" President Wallace said.

"The gates spread throughout this galaxy," Rush motioned with his hands, indicating the whole of the galaxy they were in, "Were they already here when you arrived?"

President Wallace nodded, "They certainly were. We think that the Petrus'iri managed to find one of those ships that Ancestor Eli described in one of his documentaries…a seed ship I think he called it."

Dr. Keller stopped President Wallace before he left through the door, "One more thing you need to know, Mr. President. I've only performed the operation to remove this kind of parasite once. And…it was with a power drill…"

President Wallace smiled, "Do not worry Dr. We have the medical equipment that will remove the parasites without any harm to the Petrus'iri."

Dr. Keller nodded and let them depart with Scott and Young. As Lt. Scott led them down towards the gate room, TJ caught up with them and walked alongside President Wallace, "Mr. President, I'm Tamara Johansen," she said holding out her hand.

He took her hand and shook it, "Ah yes, I know who you are. TJ, one of the Ancestors. I think I know what your question is going to be. Lou Gehrig's Disease, A.L.S., am I right?"

TJ nodded, "Yeah. Do you have a cure?"

President Wallace, "You can rest assured. We have the cure for it."

TJ turned to Young. But before she could ask for his permission to go with them, Young nodded, "You've got a go, TJ." TJ smiled, and quickly rushed away to prepare herself for the departure. Young called up to Scott, "Lt. Scott, you're going to go along as well. Take Greer and James with you."

Scott looked over his shoulder and nodded.

After some walking, they entered the gate room. Young looked over at Brody, who was standing at the controls for the gate. He nodded, and Brody began dialing the gate. TJ entered through the right hallway, all geared up. As the gate ran through the dialing sequence, Rush entered the gate room.

President Wallace approached him, "I too have a question for you, Dr. Rush. Legend has it the this ship has some sort of…chair that it able to download vast amounts of stored knowledge into a persons brain, and even upload knowledge they have learned. Is it true?"

Rush nodded, "Aye, it is true. It's a prototype to an Ancient repository of knowledge. It does as your legend says."

"Then," President Wallace began, "is it possible for information other than what is stored to be downloaded into a person's brain?"

Rush saw what President Wallace was talking about, "You want to use it to upload the knowledge of the Petrus'iri, am I right?"

"Yes, something like that," President Wallace answered. "Before they were frozen, the Petrus'iri government officials made it clear that they wanted the knowledge of their entire civilization to be stored, in case no cure was ever found." President Wallace sighed, "Problem was, we didn't have anything that could store such a massive amount of data. About a hundred thousand yottabytes worth of information." Rush's eye's widened upon hearing the size of information. "We have come up of a way of transferring the information to Destiny, but with our algorithms, it will take at least several days, at most a week."

"And what is it exactly that you would like to use the Chair for?" Rush asked.

"We would like to not just transfer the Petrus'iri information to Destiny," President Wallace replied, "but we would like to use the Chair to upload their language to the brains of some of our experts on their language." He paused, and Rush saw there was something else he wanted to say. "And…one of the Petrus'iri expressed the desire to learn our language once we found a cure for the parasite. She's a young scientist, and she wants to learn everything there is to the universe."

Rush rubbed his chin for a moment. He glanced over at Young, who had heard everything, but was watching the gate complete the dialing sequence, and activate. Rush looked back at President Wallace and nodded, "Aye. I'd be happy to help, but I'm not sure how the Chair will work or even react to a non-human species."

President Wallace smiled, "Do not worry, Dr. The Petrus'iri may not look human, but they are mammals, as are humans. Heck, you may even say that they are our cousins from another galaxy."

Rush smiled at that, "Very well. I look forward to meeting this young scientist of theirs. And good luck with the cure."

"Thank you," said President Wallace. He shook Rush's hand, and walked to the gate. TJ, Scott, and Greer followed him and his escorts through.

ͼͽ

The hours ticked by slowly. Young had given them several radios so that they could communicate, even with the gate shut down. During that time, TJ returned, and she came back smiling.

Young walked up to her, "So, what's it feel like to be cured of an incurable disease?"

"It's not cured yet," TJ answered, holding up her hand. In her hand was a medium-sized vial of milky liquid, "The moment the earliest symptoms appear, I have to inject myself with this."

Young looked confused, "But that's five years from now. Who knows how long we're going to be on this ship."

"Actually," TJ replied, "two years from now." The smile faded from her face.

"What?" said Young.

"The Novan doctor's performed some tests on me," said TJ. "It looks like even the stasis pod wasn't enough to halt the disease. I've got two more years before the symptoms show up."

Varro stood above them, just in the doorway to the platform overlooking the gate room. He listened carefully as he watched them.

Young sighed. But it wasn't a sigh of frustration, but a sigh of relief, "Well, at least now we can rest easy, knowing that you'll be cured before the symptoms get any worse."

TJ smiled, and they embraced. Young kissed her on the forehead.

A faint smile appeared on Varro's face. He was relieved that there was finally a cure for TJ, but the smile quickly faded. Young loved her, and TJ loved him, Varro knew that. He had to accept the fact that TJ was not meant for him. He turned and left the gate room.

ͼͽ

Rush stood in Young's quarters, discussing with him about the transfer of Petrus'iri information to Destiny.

"Several days to a week? How much of Destiny's databases will this occupy?" Young asked.

"Aye. With your descendants' algorithms, minimum of several days. And it'll mostly likely take up less than ten percent of Destiny's databases. They are quite large to begin with," answered Rush. "But I think you're more interested in loading this ship with food, water, and medical supplies, right?"

Young looked up at Rush from where he was sitting at his desk, "Yeah. But if it's what President Wallace really wants, then I'm going to have to accept." He stood up, "It'll probably take several days to fill this ship with supplies anyway." He nodded, "You have a go with the transfer. And if you can, have them transfer any of the Novan medical databases."

"Novan?" asked Rush.

Young shrugged, "That's what TJ said they call themselves.

Rush nodded, and left Young's quarters to begin the huge transfer of Petrus'iri information to Destiny's databases.

ͼͽ

Two days slowly roll by as the Petrus'iri data transfer continued, and the necessary supplies were loaded onto Destiny. Young oversaw the loading of supplies. Varro helped bring in some of the supplies, as did Scott and Greer, while TJ returned to the planets surface to aid in caring for the Petrus'iri that had their parasite's successfully removed. A small group of the Novan's experts on the Petrus'iri language came aboard the Destiny, ready to have the information on the Petrus'iri language downloaded directly to their brains. Rush oversaw the locating of the correct information from what was already transferred, and guiding the experts through the procedure, with Brody's assistance. After hearing that the Novan doctor's could help Dr. Park regain her sight, Greer insisted that she go to the surface. Reluctantly, she agreed, and gained Young's permission to go see the Novan doctors. The only minor incident to occur during those two days was when a local Novan living nearby the gate got a little too nosey and decided to investigate what was inside the large packages around the gate.

ͼͽ

On the morning of the third day, the data transfer continued, but was nearly complete. By then, about half of the Petrus'iri population had been cured of the parasite. Dr. Rush had finished downloading the Petrus'iri language to the brains of all six Novan experts on the Petrus'iri language. From what Rush could tell, it was a success, since he did not understand a single word they had spoken to one another. Only an hour after the experts had expressed their eternal thanks to Rush and departed through the gate, TJ returned. Accompanying her was President Wallace, one of the experts from earlier, and a Petrus'iri.

Everyone had gathered in the gate room to lay their eyes on the Petrus'iri. Rush stood next to the gate controls console, gazing at the sight of this new alien creature. Brody stood next to him at the controls, also gazing in wonder, his jaw slightly hanging. President Wallace had explained to him earlier that one of the Petrus'iri scientists had expressed a desire to learn the English language. Rush assumed this was that scientist. It was reptilian in appearance, very much so. It was about as tall as Lt. Scott. Its entire body was covered in small, smooth scales in a variety of brown, gray, and tan colors. Her fingers and toes had claws and talons, each about an inch long and were light black in color. The eyes were an olive green color around the edge of each iris, while the rest were a deep ocean blue. It wore clothes similar a woman's silk shirt, with long sleeves that looked as if they had been cut open up to the shoulders and long pants similar to jeans, only with elaborate designs, and the openings were widened at the end.

Rush took off his glasses as President Wallace and the Petrus'iri approached him, _"Very similar to humans in more ways than one,"_ Rush thought to himself.

President Wallace smiled, "Good to see you again, Dr. Rush."

Rush nodded, "Likewise." He glanced at the Petrus'iri, who was looking all around the gate room, marveling at the ancient technology, "Is this the scientist that you spoke about a few days ago?"

"Yes," answered President Wallace, "this is Terra'sha'ri, but she prefers to be called Terra."

"Does her name mean 'earth,' by any chance?" Brody asked.

President Wallace looked stumped for a moment. He turned to the expert on Terra's language, who gave a slight, unsure nod of his head. President Wallace shrugged and turned back to Brody and Rush, "I assume so."

"Well," said Rush as he placed his glasses back on his nose, "let us not dawdle any more. I presume Terra is eager to see more of this ship, perhaps her planet before we go ahead with the procedure."

President Wallace glanced over at Terra, who was still gazing all around her, at the humans, at everything. He nodded.

"Follow me then," said Rush. He began to walk down the hallway toward the control room, "Mr. Brody," he called over his shoulder, "meet us in the Chair room, and begin preparations for the procedure."

Brody left the gate controls console and headed towards the Chair room.

Dr. Rush gave President Wallace and Terra a short tour of the ship, from the control room, to the bridge, and to the observatory room. Terra was absolutely amazed at the sight of her planet, marveling at its size and utter beauty from orbit.

"By the way Mr. President," Rush said as they stood a little ways away from Terra, "You said that the planet is called New Novus, yes?

President Wallace nodded.

"What was it originally called?" asked Rush.

President Wallace shrugged, "To be honest, we don't think they had a name for this planet. They had names for many other planets, but not this one. We think they may have settled this planet less than a couple thousand years before we arrived."

"And they managed to build cities the sizes of six of Earth's largest urban cities together," said Rush, "in that span of time?"

"Well, yes," President Wallace answered. "You must remember that the Petrus'iri are an advanced species, perhaps much more advanced than that of the aliens that abducted Ancestor Eli. Their race entered an Industrial Age almost a million or so years before humans on Earth even evolved. They have the means to clear land and build large cities in only a few centuries."

Rush nodded, amazed by the thought that Terra's people were perhaps much more advanced than the Asgard, or even the Ancients themselves.

Terra's tail twitched, and she turned. She nodded to both of them, and they turned towards the door. Rush lead them passed the mess hall, dozens of rooms with advanced and ancient technology, more rooms where some of the supplies loaded on a day earlier were being kept, until they finally reached Chair room.

Brody looked up as the door opened and they entered. "Well, here you have it. The Chair from your legend, Mr. President. I know it may look intimidating, but I assure you, it'll be perfectly safe with me and Mr. Brody working the controls." He walked over to the controls opposite of where Brody stood.

As Rush and Brody finished preparations for the download, Terra walked up to the chair, admiring its intimidating look in the glow of the white light overhead. She touched it gently, and suddenly, the color of the light changed to a warm yellow glow. Terra looked up at the light, then at Rush and Brody.

Rush looked at Brody, "What did you do?"

Rush looked down at the readings and charts of the Chair's activities. Nothing was out of the ordinary, it was just the same as when he downloaded the Petrus'iri language to the experts' minds. "It must be adjusting itself to Terra, getting used to her physiology. Destiny recognizes that she is different from us."

President Wallace glanced at Rush, a bit confused by what he meant, "What do you mean, Dr.?"

Rush kept his eyes on the readings on the control console, "What I meant was that Destiny, actually is able to think. This ship has a consciousness. It is able to distinguish the minute differences between individuals, and in this case, between species. Destiny must know what is best for Terra, it knows what to do to make sure that Terra's mind is completely intact before, during, and after the procedure. She is the first of her kind to sit in the Chair, and I don't think Destiny wants any harm to come to her." His thoughts went back to what happened to Doctor Franklin, when Destiny was unfamiliar with the human mind. He could only imagine that the ship intended to not make the same mistake again.

President Wallace nodded, "I see. Magnificent. Absolutely fascinating that this ship is able to think on its own."

A signal sounded from Brody's control console, and he looked up at Rush, "It's ready."

Rush nodded, and glanced over at Terra. She nodded silently, understanding that they were ready for the procedure to begin. She walked in front of the Chair again, gazing at its aged leather before turning around and sitting down. Immediately, the shackles in the arm rests closed around her wrists, and the nodes extended up and stopped on either side of her head. Brody nodded to Rush, who glanced at the expert on Terra's language, "I'm going to need you to tell her that this will hurt, but only for a moment."

The expert spoke to Terra calmly in her language, and she nodded.

Rush started the procedure, and the mist began to fall from the ceiling, lit up by the brilliant yellow light overhead. Terra trembled as the information on the English language began to download into her mind, but Rush could see that she was managing the pain fairly well compared to the experts from earlier. He looked down at the screen; only a few more seconds to go until the procedure is complete, and Terra would officially become the first non-human species to use, and survive the Chair. TJ stood in the doorway with her medical kit in case anything went wrong.

Then, another signal sounded from Rush's console, indicating the end of another successful procedure. The mist cleared away, and the yellow light returned to the bright white light once more. The nodes retracted from Terra's head, and lifted up, and the shackles around her wrists opened. Everyone except Rush gathered in front of Terra as she blinked slowly. Rush gazed down at the screen, amazed by the readings he was seeing of Terra's mind and brain. It was a successful download, and she was perfectly fine, but that is not what caught his attention. Terra's mind was far more superior to the human mind, able to store massive amounts of information. The readings were also telling Rush that Terra is able to access and use more than eighty-three percent of her brain. The Petrus'iri undoubtedly had a very powerful mind and brain. No doubt, they were a very advanced species, perhaps on par with the Ancients.

"Did it work?" President Wallace asked as he gazed worriedly at Terra.

Her eyes fell on him for a moment before she spoke, "I do not know, you tell me."

She had a very heavy accent, and Brody smirked, "Not only did it work, but I think we just made you the first British person outside of the Milky Way."

Terra smiled, "Something is telling me that is a good thing…and I find that somewhat humorous." She smiled.

President Wallace rejoiced with the expert, and Brody and TJ could not help but smile. Rush also was smiling, proud not of himself, but of Destiny.

ͼͽ

Soon after the procedure, and after TJ had concluded that Terra was all still there and perfectly normal, Terra asked to speak privately with Young and Rush, and they went to Young's quarters. She spoke to them about her dreams and what she desired.

"I wish to remain on this ship, with your people," said Terra.

Young and Rush glanced at each other, both a bit surprised.

Rush looked back at Terra, "What is it that you truly want?"

Terra sighed, "Ever since I was a child, I was always fascinated with the universe. I always wanted to know everything there is to know about the universe. It has become an obsession of mine to discovering the very foundation of our universe, discovering how it came to be, and what mysteries it holds. My mother and father had been doing just that, studying the universe." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Before they mysteriously vanished, they had been studying a strange artifact in the background noise of the universe. They discovered it while listening to radio waves coming from stars in distant galaxies." This caught Rush's attention and he listened carefully, "It was…static. At first, that is all I could discern from the noise. Static. But as I listened closer and closer to it each time I heard it, a pattern began to emerge. I could not understand what it was, but I knew that there was a distinct pattern to this noise. It was almost…to organized to be natural."

Rush glanced over at Young, who was a bit stumped by what he was hearing. "I think she could help us, Col. It's too much of a coincidence."

Terra was confused, "Coincidence? What are you talking about?"

Rush sighed, "This ship, Destiny…was sent out on a mission a hundred thousand years ago by a group of people who we call the Ancient's. They devoted themselves to science and discovering the secrets of the universe. And Destiny's mission happened to fall in that category, because the Ancient's…also discovered that static sound that you describe. Destiny's mission is discovering the origin's of that noise, because the Ancient's believed it to be a man-made signal, rather than a natural phenomenon."

"Amazing," Terra said. "To think that two civilizations on opposite ends of the universe could have discovered the same thing in this vast universe. But to actually pursue the origins of it?"

Rush nodded, "Aye. The Ancients were all about gaining knowledge through scientific means, and ultimately finding a higher plane of existence."

Terra's eyes widened, and filled with tears, "That sounds…just like my father and mother's ambitions." She wiped away the tears from her eyes, "Please, you must let me remain on this ship. This is not just about my obsession with the universe…it is about finishing what my father and mother started."

Young sighed, and rubbed his eyes, "I'm not sure, Dr. Terra-"

"Please," Terra interrupted Young, "just call me Terra."

Young nodded, "Terra. I'm not sure. Don't your people need brilliant minds like yours?"

"Do they?" Terra said, pondering for a moment. "I think not. None in the scientific community believe my theories, or my father and mother's theories. No one believes in what I believe, that there is some form of intelligence that created that sound, and not just natural background static." The end of Terra's tail flicked as her gaze went to the floor.

Young looked over at Rush, who shrugged. Young sighed again before pushing away from his desk, "Well, I'll go and speak with President Wallace, and see if he can talk with your people."

Terra looked up and smiled, "Thank you, thank you so much Col. I will go with you if you do not mind."

"I'll tag along as well," said Rush.

Young opened the door, and they left to go speak with President Wallace.

ͼͽ

President Wallace was shocked to hear that Terra wanted to remain onboard the Destiny. He was unsure of what to say, only that he could not make the ultimate decision of whether she may stay or not. They stood in the gate room, the gate being dialed for President Wallace's and Terra's departure.

"I can't make that decision, Terra," he said. "It's your grandfather who has to make that decision. After all, you two are the last of your family tree."

Terra shook her head, "No, we are not."

President Wallace looked surprised, "Say what now?"

Young and Rush glanced at each other. They both knew what she was going to say. Terra looked down to the floor, "I'm pregnant. I found out a day before I was frozen." She smiled and looked back up at President Wallace, "Triplets."

President Wallace's eyes widened, just as the gate finished dialing and activated. "Oh my. Congratulations Terra. Triplets? That's amazing, even humans rarely have triplets."

Terra nodded, "Yes, and Petrus'iri never have triplets. I am the first to have triplets. It is both a miracle and a blessing."

The radio in Young's hand crackled, and a young male voice sounded over it, "President Wallace, this is Major Matthew Young III. Do you copy?" Scott, who stood just behind Young, smirked when he heard the name.

Young handed the radio to President Wallace, "Go ahead Major, what is it?"

"I have an elderly Petrus'iri here that would like to speak with Dr. Terra'sha'ri," replied the young Major. "He say's he's her grandfather."

President Wallace glanced at Terra, and she reached out her hand for the radio. He handed her the radio, and Terra took a few steps toward the gate as she spoke in her native tongue to her grandfather.

Young stood next to President Wallace, "All of these familiar names…and we only know them through the Kino footage we've seen in the Tenaran archive back on Novus."

President Wallace nodded, "It must be very strange for you. Learning that your original selves were transported thousands of years into the past through the gate. And starting a civilization in a galaxy far from the one you were born in."

Young nodded, "Yeah. And the stranger thing is…it's like I felt almost at home, stepping onto that planet before it was ripped apart."

President Wallace glanced at him, his expression saddened, "So. The black hole finally destroyed our home world?"

"I'm afraid so, Mr. President," answered Young. "We only barely made it out of there alive. We tried to download as much as we could of the Tenaran archive, but it was already too late by the time we got there. We only managed to save about a third of the whole archive."

President Wallace nodded, a hint of sadness crossing his face as he looked towards the gate, "I see. A shame. I enjoyed watching Ancestor Eli speak about his journeys with you through the universe. You and him must have seen some of the most incredible sights."

Terra brought her hand down to her side. Young could tell that she was disappointed by her grandfather's decision. She turned and walked back to them, handing Young the radio, her eyes on the floor, "It appears that I will not be joining you and your people on your great journey through the universe, Col."

Young nodded, "I'm sorry Terra."

Terra looked up, and the sadness quickly faded from her face, "But part of my dream has been fulfilled. I have finally learned your language, with your help. And…you have saved my people, and for that you have my eternal thanks."

"It was the least we could do to help," replied Young.

The young major's voice sounded from the radio again, "President Wallace, we're ready to transport you back to the city."

President Wallace nodded, and sighed, "Well Col. Young. It was an honor meeting you. I never thought that I would meet the Ancestors. And I thank you for the help you and Dr. McKay gave us in our cause to save Terra's people." He reached out and shook Young's hand.

"Likewise, Mr. President," Young said. "It was a pleasure having you on board the Destiny."

They released hands, and President Wallace shook hands with Rush. And with that, he and the escort left through the gate. Terra followed behind them, but stopped just before she entered the gate. She looked over her shoulder for a moment, burning the sight of the Destiny's gate room into her mind.

But that slight pause was long enough for the gate to suddenly deactivate.

Terra jumped back, startled by the steam erupting from underneath the gate.

Young looked confused, "What the hell just happened?"

Rush was instantly at the gate controls, but he shook his head, "I don't know. It shouldn't have deactivated."

Terra walked back to Young and Rush, "What is happening?"

Rush shook his head again as the console made a low alarm, "Damn it."

"What is it?" asked Young.

"It's Destiny." Rush, Terra, and Young all looked back at the gate, "She's locked me out of all systems except communications."

"Turn them on," Young ordered, "We need to tell them what's going on."

Rush pressed a button on the console, and nodded at Young.

Young spoke into the open air, "President Wallace, this is Col. Young. Is everything fine on your end?"

President Wallace's voice answered from the console, "Yes, why has the gate shut down Col. Young? I pray that Terra was not in the gate when it shut down."

"Terra is perfectly fine," Young replied. "We don't know why the gate shut down. We're trying to redial as we speak, but it seems Destiny's locked us out of all systems, except communications." Young looked at Rush, who shook his head again after he received no response from the controls.

Suddenly, another alarm sounded from the console. A look of horror appeared on Rush's face, "No."

"What is it?" asked Terra.

"It's the aliens we encountered several galaxies back," Rush answered. He looked at Young, "They just dropped out into the system." Another alarm sounded, "And their charging weapons and deploying crafts."

"ETA?" asked Young.

"Ten minutes," replied Rush.

Young lifted his radio, "Scott, Greer, I need you two in the bridge ASAP! I need you two to arm the weapons now!"

"Another alien race?" Terra asked. "Why are they hostile?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the bridge," Young said as he started quickly walking to the bridge. "Come with me if you want."

Terra did not object, and was right behind him.

Young called over his shoulder, "Rush, explain the situation to the President."

Rush nodded and turned back to the console to explain what was happening at the moment.

ͼͽ

"How are we with the weapons?" Young asked as he quickly entered the bridge and sat down in the center chair.

Terra stood in the doorway, absolutely amazed by the ancient advanced technology she was seeing in front of her.

Brody was at one of the chairs, "Destiny wouldn't let us power up the weapons until you got here."

"What the hell is going on with this ship?" Young asked out loud. "ETA?"

"One minute, sir," Greer answered as he charged up the weapons systems.

Young looked back at Terra, "You might want to hold onto something."

Terra looked a bit frightened, but still fascinated by all this as she sat down at an empty seat near some controls. She looked at the controls and saw strange symbols flashing and changing on the screen. She had seen the Ancient symbols on other screens, but these were very different.

"They're here," Greer said.

Outside the Destiny, the alien fighters advanced onto Destiny, surrounding her, and pelting her with plasma fire.

"Engage them," Young said. "Scott, I want evasive maneuvers now. Brody, concentrate your fire on the fighters. Greer, I want you to ready the main gun, and target the mother ship once we get in close enough."

Destiny began to dodge as many of the fighters' fire as she could. Scott held up his hands as he turned to look at Young, "Sir, I'm not doing that. I have no control over the ship."

Rush spoke over the radio, "Col. Young, this is Rush. It seems that Destiny has completely cut off access to every major system except communications and weapons to everyone on the ship."

Young picked up the radio as the ship jolted from frequent hits by enemy fire, "Find out why. I want an answer once this is over." He put down the radio as the ship jolted again, this time much more violently, "Scott, take up weapons and help Brody fire on the fighters."

Brody called over his shoulder, "Col. Young, the mother ship is firing on us now!"

"Greer, fire on that damn ship," Young ordered.

"Yes sir," Greer said under his breath, "my pleasure."

Terra shouted back to Young, "Col. Young, there is something happening on this screen."

Young left the center chair and made his way slowly to Terra. Sparks began to fly, and Young ducked as they arced over his head. Brody called out shield strength readings, "Shields are at sixty-eight percent, but they're holding!"

Terra pointed to the screen as Young came up next to her and looked down at the screen, "I have seen Ancient symbols briefly on the tour," she said, "but these symbols look alien."

"Damn it," Young said. He grabbed the radio from his belt, "Rush, this is Young. They're uploading a virus to one of the consoles here on the bridge! I need you here now!"

Terra looked at Young, "Are you sure it's a virus, Col.?"

Young nodded, "That's in their language. It's the only possible explanation."

As the battle raged on, Rush finally appeared on the bridge. Terra got up from her seat so that Rush could sit down and examine the virus that was being forced into Destiny's mainframe. "Damn it! They used the knowledge they gained from Chloe!"

"Then stop it!" Young shouted back from the center chair.

More sparks began to fly and Brody called out shield strength again, "Shields are down to forty percent! We can't take much more of this!

"Greer!" Young shouted, "I need that ship dead now!"

"Just a little bit closer," Greer muttered under his breath. He had the alien ship locked on, but he needed to find that one spot.

"If only I knew what this virus says," said Rush, "then I'd be able to create a firewall to stop it."

"Hang on," said Terra. "Look, it's a pattern."

"What?" asked Rush as Terra pointed to the alien symbols as they quickly flashed by.

"It's a simple virus," Terra answered. "I have seen virus' similar that only attack the most important systems. I know what to do."

Rush relinquished the chair to Terra, and she immediately began working on creating a firewall. _"Amazing,"_ Rush thought to himself, _"Terra hasn't even been on this ship for one day, yet she already knows how to read the systems. Maybe Destiny feels Terra is crucial to her survival and the mission. It seems fate has reared its head once more."_

Within no time, Terra was done, and the virus download was stopped. She even created an anti-virus to send back to the aliens to neutralize the mother ship. Immediately, her anti-virus went to work, and it could be seen working as the fighters began to do somersaults and firing away from Destiny. The mother ship began to turn on its side, obviously affected by the anti-virus as well.

"Greer," said Young. "Blow that thing to hell."

Greer smiled, "Yes sir." He pressed the button to fire the main gun. Three shots erupted from the canons, and made contact with the alien mother ships hull. With that, the ship exploded in a brilliant blue and red fire ball. Brody and Scott took out the fighters as they careened helplessly through space.

ͼͽ

"Thank you Terra," Young said as everything quieted and calmed down. "You saved our asses. We couldn't have done it without you. Now, I'm sure everyone is worried about you down there, let's get you home."

"One problem with that, Col. Young," Rush said. Young turned to him, "Destiny is not responding to any commands, not even the gate. Terra is stuck here until I figure out why Destiny won't accept any commands."

Young nodded, "Fine, do what you have to do. Terra, if you'd like, we can arrange some temporary quarters for you."

Terra's short tail flicked as she smiled, "Thank you Col. But I think I would like to help Dr. Rush in any way I can." She glanced at Rush, "If that is okay with you."

Rush nodded, "I don't mind at all. Our best man for the job has been abducted by the aliens, so I think another brilliant mind could be beneficial."

Young nodded, "Okay. I'm going to contact President Wallace and explain the situation up here. You're grandfather will have to wait for you until Rush figure's this out."

ͼͽ

The hours ticked by, and still Rush and Terra could not figure out why Destiny had locked them all out of her systems. After Young had explained the situation to President Wallace, Terra's grandfather was not happy with the news.

Then just as Terra finally found something that could help them unlock Destiny's systems again…Destiny jumped into FTL. No warning, and no countdown.

Rush sighed, "What in bloody hell is this ship thinking?"

Terra looked at him, a bit confused, "This ship has a consciousness?"

"Aye," Rush answered. "It's even spoken to me through holographic representations of people I once knew. This ship can get inside our heads. It reads our minds and memories, and it even makes its own decisions separate from our own decisions. As you saw when it shut down the gate just before you were to leave."

"Then," Terra said, "does that mean that the ship wishes for me to remain on board?"

Rush did not immediately answer. He pondered on that for a moment, thinking over the events that had transpired earlier. He nodded, "I would think so."

ͼͽ

Terra was given her own quarters during the time they spent in FTL. Just before she left to have the English language downloaded to her mind, Terra secretly stored all of her personal possessions, everything she ever owned in a small digital storage unit attached to a bracelet she wore on her wrist.

As she was beginning to get accustomed to he new home, Destiny dropped out of FTL.

Young's voice sounded over the radio he had given her, "Rush, I need you in the gate room. The gate's being dialed from somewhere."

"On my way," answered Rush's voice.

Terra quickly stood up, opened the door and quickly made her way towards the gate room. No sooner had she arrived in the gate room, did the gate activate and establish a wormhole. But suddenly, as soon as the event horizon collapsed inwards, it turned white. Terra glanced at Rush, who looked confused by the sudden change in color of the event horizon.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Young.

"I'm not sure," answered Rush. "But I'm picking up a radio signal."

"Let's hear it," said Young.

Rush turned on the communications for them to hear the radio chatter.

A commanding female voice shouted over the communications from the console as explosions could be heard in the background, "…Destiny Two, I repeat! This is General Shandra Riverstone! We're under attack! We're coming through! Greer's wounded, we need TJ ready now!"

Greer looked over his shoulder at Young and Rush from where he stood aiming his weapon at the gate, "But…I'm right here."

Suddenly, Young's voice came over the communications, "General! Go now! I'll hold them off! Tarvock! Take Addamo and Eli and go with her!"

The female voice shouted back, "Everett, we're not leaving without you!"

"That wasn't a request General!" Young's voice shouted back.

Young glanced at Rush, "Am I going crazy, or is that me?"

"Aye," said Rush, "That's your voice alright."

"Eli," said Chloe, who was standing on the staircase above Rush. "He said Eli."

There was a pause over the radio as more explosions could be heard in the background. The female voice shouted, "I want to see you behind me, Col. Is that understood?"

Young's voice shouted again, "You can count on it!" More explosions and gunfire could be heard in the background of this conversation.

"Be on your guard, everyone," said Young.

The female voice shouted over the communications, "Destiny Two! We're coming through!"

Greer and Scott stood ready, their weapons steadily aimed at the gate.

Suddenly, a creature came through the gate, and immediately collapsed to the floor, dropping an M4A1 as it slid forward a few feet. Two more of the same creatures came through, and one also immediately fell to the floor, its legs bending upwards over its head as it slid forward before dropping to the floor. The other seemed to freeze in place after taking a few steps forward. It held a Beretta 92FS in its right hand, but it made no move. It was simply frozen in its tracks. Then, another of the same creatures came through the gate. And then the gate deactivated. This creature held a large sword in its left hand, and an M4A1 in its other hand. Both weapons dropped to the floor, the sword clanging as it bounced slightly off the floor before settling. The creature fell to its knees. It held its long, arrowhead shaped head in one hand as it stared up at Young, Rush and Terra. Its jaws opened, as if to say something, but it collapsed onto its side and curled into a fettle position.

No one moved. No one was sure what to do, as they had no clue what just happened. Young walked up behind Greer and Scott and peered down in puzzlement at the creatures that lay at their feet. All the creatures wore the same clothing Greer and Scott were wearing, with the Icarus Base patch on their left shoulders. The creatures had short to long silky fur instead of skin, and claws and talons on their four fingered hands and four toed feet. Their legs were digitigraded, and their heads were shaped somewhat like that of a wolfs head and a sharks head, their snouts sloping smoothly in a straight angle from the backs of their heads to the very tips of their snouts. No forehead slope was visible, perhaps non-existent, and their eyes were located on either side of their heads. Their ears were long and pointed, and their long slender tails were about half their body lengths.

Greer and Scott glanced at each other before they looked over their shoulders at Young. "Sir," Greer said, "what the hell are these things? And what the hell were they talking about when they said they had Eli? And…what's Destiny Two?"

Young shook his head, "I don't know. And I sure as hell don't see Eli here."

Scott kicked the M4A1 away from the first creature to come through the gate. He knelt down and turned the creature over. He froze.

"What is it, Lt.?" asked Young from where he stood next to Greer.

"Sir…" Scott was having trouble looking for the right words. Finally, he found his voice again, "This things uniform says…"

"What's it say?" asked Greer.

"It says…Wallace on this things uniform…"

Å

End Chapter 2


	3. Similar Differences

**EDIT: 2/14/2012**

**Hello fellow SGU fans! Chapter 3, Similar Differences has been edited and new material has been added! Most of the content is still the same, and the story is still very much just the same. But I have reread everything, edited, added some new things here and there and replaced the original Chapter 3 with the new and improved Chapter 3! Hope you guys enjoy a better read with the improved Chapter 3! Oh, and I am removing the M Rating for this story, as I have edited out the adult content. So now, SGU fans of ALL AGES can enjoy the read!**

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><p><em>Hello fans of Stargate Universe. The name's sheesh.<em>

_This is the story of our friends onboard the Destiny, 3 years after they made the fateful FTL jump from one galaxy, to another. We follow them as their jouney continues through this new, and strange galaxy. What mysteries await them? What sort of alien species will they encounter, and wil they be hostile? And what has become of the one man we have come to know and love as the incredibly smart, Eli Wallace? Has he survived the jump? Or did the crew wake up too late? To find out the answers to these questions, read the story that could have been, the story that many of us SGU fans would love to see finished._

_This is a fan fiction that I have been working on for the last few months. Forgive me if you see mistakes here and there, as I have been a novice writer for about 6 years now. Since I learned while watching the season 2 finale that there would no longer be new episodes, I was haunted with many, many questions about where the story of the Destiny would go, and what would become of the characters we have come to love. After giving it some thought, I decided I would write my take on a season 3 of Stargate Universe. This is a fan fiction, written by a fan, for the fans. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. This is the biggest project I've ever done. Please, I only ask one thing from those of you who read it...**REVIEWS!** Again, I'm still a novice writer, and I need...would like reviews from other fans ands readers about my writings. If there is something that you did or did not like, please tell me in your review, so that I may improve upon it in future chapters. Again, **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_

**Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum**

**This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.**

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><p>92/11

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Similar Differences

In the infirmary, Young, TJ, Rush, Terra, and Scott were talking amongst themselves, discussing the strange arrival of the even stranger creatures. Three days had passed since their arrival, and Young was unsure of what to do with them. So Scott used the communications stones to exchange bodies with Gen. O'Neill.

"Sooo…" Jack rocked back and forth on his feet as he shot a quick glance at the creatures. "These...things, happened to know the name of this ship, Sgt. Greer's name, Johansson's name, and Rush's name? AND they all happen to be wearing Icarus Base and marine uniforms?"

Young shrugged, "We don't know what's going on, General. First, Destiny seems to go rogue on us by locking us out of key systems except communications and weapons, and then Destiny is almost immobilized by an alien computer virus, and now this."

"Not only that, General," TJ said, "but one of them has Eli's last name on its name patch."

Jack looked blankly at TJ, "And that means…what?"

"Just before they came through the Gate," Young replied, "one of the things on the radio said to take Eli with them. And that things voice…happened to sound exactly like mine."

Jack tilted his head to one side a bit, "Your voice, Colonel?"

Young nodded, "Yes sir. We're just as confused as you are about this."

"Uh huh," Jack said looking down at the floor for a moment. "This sounds a bit too familiar."

Rush was confused by this, "What?"

"Well, it only happened about five or so years ago," said Jack, "but about twenty or more SG-1 teams came through the gate in about a day. One of those teams happened to not be very friendly. Not only that, but Daniel met…a different…me a long time ago."

Young furrowed his eyebrows, "Twenty different SG-1 teams?"

"You're talking about alternate versions of SG-1, correct?" asked Rush.

Jack nodded, "Yep."

"But what does that have to do with these things?" TJ asked.

"Well, you did say one of them has the name Wallace on its name patch," replied Jack, "and another called one of them Eli. So, I kinda…connected the dots."

"I think I know what he is talking about," Terra said, speaking for the first time since Jack came aboard. Jack seemed surprised that she could talk, let alone speak English. All eyes turned to her. "The multiverse. A theory that emerged in our culture about nine thousand years ago."

Jack raised his eyebrows at that, "Nine thousand years ago?"

Rush answered his question, "Her race is by far the most advanced race we've ever come upon. I have a feeling that they may even be far more advanced than the Asgard and the Ancients. But is she right?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah. That's sort of what I was getting at…I guess." He glanced over at the creatures again, and saw that one of them was still standing. This made him uneasy, "Why's that one not sleeping?"

Young turned to glance at the standing creature before turning back. "Well," Young said, "we can't budge him. We can't even lift it high enough to put it up on the bed."

"It seems to be an android," added Rush. "Its arms and legs are locked in place. Its eyes aren't even reacting to a flash light."

"Right," Jack said. "Like I said, alternate versions of SG-1. That…multi-whatever she called it."

"Multiverse," Terra said. "What else may explain Col. Young's voice on the radio when he was standing next to Dr. Rush, not touching the radio? And perhaps the one with the name Wallace is this Eli that was mentioned."

Jack looked at Rush and Young, waiting for them to say something. "Well?"

Rush scratched the stubble on his chin, "It's plausible. But I don't think that the one with the Wallace name patch is Eli." He shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, the multiverse theory is by far the most possible explanation. But a variation such as this one? It's hard to wrap my head around the idea of me being one of those things in their universe."

"Oh believe me," said Jack, "I know the feeling all too well."

"Then if that's true," said TJ, "would that mean that humans don't exist in their universe? That all of us would be one of them instead of human?"

"It is highly likely," answered Terra.

Jack looked down at the watch on his wrist and drew a deep breath, "Well, when they do wake up, I'm sure you'll find out the answers to all of these questions. And oh," he pointed at Young, "we'll talk about this whole…alien culture interference thing later. Right now, I need to review Ronin's strategy for taking back DC."

Young nodded, "Yes sir. I'll escort you back to the stones room. TJ, I want to know exactly what these things are. And Rush, find out how we're going to send these things back."

"I will help you," said Terra, following Rush out of the infirmary.

TJ set about drawing blood from one of the unconscious creatures to find out what they are.

Young took Jack back to the stones room.

"Colonel," said Jack as they reached the stones room and entered. "Just one thing…why is there a six foot tall, two-legged lizard on the ship?" He leaned closer to Young and whispered, "That thing is taller than me!"

Young smiled, "Well sir, Destiny shut the gate down before Terra went through back to her planet. We're still trying to gain back control of the ship. And Terra isn't exactly a lizard."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What is she then? Wait, don't tell me that she's somehow a distant relative of the human being, except from another galaxy."

"Actually sir," Young said, unable to stop himself from smiling, "I was going to say something like that."

Jack raised his other eyebrow, "What?"

"She may look like a reptile," answered Young, "she may have basically all the physical attributes of a lizard, but she's a mammal."

Jack shook his head, "The weirdest things happen in this universe. Now that you mention it, I did see something that looked like a bra under that pretty shirt she's wearing." He smirked, "And Sam would be on my case for a whole year for saying that."

"The stone's ready, sir," James said from where she sat behind a laptop.

"Well, Colonel," said Jack, "even with all that's happening back home, you seem to be managing this ship like a true ships captain." He patted Young on the shoulder, "Keep up the good work."

"Thank you sir," Young said, saluting Jack, "I will."

Jack touched the stone, and Scott blinked. "Why am I back already?"

Young could tell something was wrong, "Scott, what happened?"

Scott looked at the stone, then back at Young, "The Lucian Alliance led an assault on the SGC."

ͼͽ

Jack looked around as the ground beneath him shook. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the lights flickered.

"…and they're trying to get through access hatch at the top of the mountain." Jack looked in front of him and saw that it was Cameron talking. Cameron pointed to Jack, "You, Lt. Scott, I need you to get a team of four and help out Ronin and Teal'c up at the access hatch entrance. They'll need the support." Jack glanced at the people standing at either side of him. It was Teyla, Vala, and Sam. He looked back at Cameron blankly. Cameron waved his hand, "Hello, Earth to Lt. Scott. Did you hear what I said?"

"I sure as hell did hear what you said, Mitchell," Jack said. "But why the hell are you giving me orders? And what the hell's going on?"

"Jack?" said Sam, a bit surprised. "Was the connection severed?"

"No, I came back because I have to review Ronin's tactical strategy," Jack answered. "What the hell is going on? And why the hell is there dust falling from the ceiling?"

"The Lucian Alliance is trying to get into the mountain," Cameron answered. "They wanna gain control of the gate."

"I'm gone for only two hours," Jack said, "and you already managed to let everything go to hell?"

"Sir," said Sam, "they attacked without warning. They showed up in several cloaked Goa'uld cargo ships and they used the rings to beam their men right on top of the mountain. We had no warning."

"And they're shooting at us with two of those cargo ships," Vala added.

"Ya still let everything go to hell," said Jack. He looked back at Cameron, "I want you to go up and help Ronin and Teal'c. And get a team."

Cameron nodded, and quickly made his way out of the room.

"What are we to do, General O'Neill?" Teyla asked.

"I don't know!" Jack exclaimed. "I just got back here. I don't know what the hell is going on." He glanced at Sam, "Does Landry know about this?"

"He's at the Pentagon with the President," Sam answered. "They're monitoring the Lucian's' movements on the mountain from a UAV."

Jack raised his eyebrows, "The Pentagon? But I thought-"

Vala interrupted him, "The Lucian Alliance evacuated that place." Jack glanced at Vala, "We don't know why, but they just went up and left."

"They left everything intact in the Pentagon," Sam added, "although there are obvious signs they hacked much of the computer databases."

"Damn," Jack said, "I was hoping they wouldn't do that to the computers." The floor shook again, "If they transported their troops to the mountain top, why is the whole mountain shaking?"

"They are firing upon the entrance to the mountain by a pair of cargo ships," Teyla answered, "hoping to seal us inside the mountain."

"Well, we can't let them do that," said Jack. "Contact Atlantis. Find out if they have any of those little...yellow things that nearly killed me back in Antarctica. I want those damn ships blown up."

"McKay's already working on the drones," Sam answered. "The galactic jump Atlantis made to get here seems to have damaged the drones somehow."

"Well, tell him to hurry up then!" Jack exclaimed.

ͼͽ

"McKay!" Sheppard shouted as he rushed into the Chair room, "We need those drones working now!"

"I'm working as fast as I can here!" McKay shouted back. "You wanna help? Be my guest! You try and figure out why a piece of ten thousand year old weapons technology isn't working!"

"I'd rather be the one using that weapons technology right about now," answered Sheppard. He tapped the radio headpiece on his ear, "Dr. Woolsey, how's the SGC holding up?"

Dr. Richard Woolsey's voice responded in Sheppard's earpiece, "General O'Neill just returned. Col. Mitchell just reported back, the Lucian's have pretty much destroyed half of the main entrance tunnel already. We need those drones working now. The mountain can't take much more."

"I got it!" McKay exclaimed. "It's not the drones! It's the control circuits in the pedestal!"

"Well fix it then!" Sheppard shouted as he sat down in the Ancient control chair.

"Just about," McKay said as he fiddled with the circuits in the pedestal the Ancient control chair stood on, "There! Go, the drones should be working now."

"I'm firing," Sheppard said as he placed his hands on the gel at the end of each of the chairs arms.

ͼͽ

Masses of drones emerged from the city and shot upwards towards the sky.

They quickly raced through the clouds towards their intended targets. Within minutes, they had already reached their destination. The Lucians in the cargo ships had no time to react, and all three cargo ships were destroyed in the blink of an eye.

The Lucian foot soldiers on the ground scrambled to get inside the access hatch before the burning wreckage of the cargo ship that transported them crushed them.

ͼͽ

McKay glanced down at the tablet in his hand as it beeped, "Targets have been neutralized. There's nothing left."

Sheppard sat forward in the chair and tapped his com headset, "Woolsey, tell the SGC that hostile air support and ground transport has been neutralized."

"Very good," Woolsey responded, "I'll contact them immediately."

Sheppard stood up and made quickly for the door, but McKay stopped him, "Where you going now?"

Sheppard glanced over his shoulder, "There's still the troops inside the mountain to deal with. SGC is going to need all the firepower they can get."

ͼͽ

At the SGC, Ronin and Teal'c continued to defend against the invading Lucian soldiers. Ronin shouted over his shoulder to Teal'c and the marine's fighting alongside them, "Fall back!" He turned back and fired off two more shots with his weapon before jumping back toward Teal'c. A Lucian soldier looked from his cover spot and fired a spray of bullets at Ronin. Two bullets met flesh, hitting Ronin in his lower back and his right thigh.

Teal'c reached forward and caught Ronin as he fell forward. Ronin grunted, leaning back against the wall behind Teal'c. Teal'c stepped from behind the corner he was using as cover, firing off a spray of bullets from both his P90's. He hid behind the corner again just as bullets glanced off the wall. He shouted to Ronin, "Are you alright, Ronin Dex?"

"Don't worry about me!" Ronin shouted back over the roar of the gunfire, "I've been worse! Fall back!"

Teal'c nodded and ran down the corridor to where the rest of the marine's waited for them behind the corner. The blast door began to lower no sooner had Teal'c stepped behind the corner with the marine's. "Ronin Dex! You must hurry!"

Ronin thrust himself forward onto his feet into a limping run towards Teal'c. He pointed his weapon behind him in the direction of the Lucian's and fired off a couple rounds, and the Lucian's responded by showering him with more bullets. He grunted, and broke into a sprint, gritting his teeth from the pain in his lower back and right thigh. The blast door was almost closed, and Ronin dove towards the narrow opening. He slid across the blood drenched floor and passed beneath the door, his feet narrowly missing being crushed by it. Bullets hit and bounced off the other side of the blast door, sounding like flies hitting a windshield.

Teal'c reached down, grasped Ronin by his forearm, and hoisted him to his feet. Ronin grunted as he placed weight on his right leg. "You must seek medical attention," Teal'c said, seeing that Ronin's pants leg was soaked with blood.

"I'll be fine," Ronin said, shrugging off Teal'c's concern. "I'm not gonna die from this. We need to set up defenses at the end of this hallway before they get through the door."

Cameron came around the corner, cradling a P90. "Whoa," he said upon seeing Ronin covered in the blood he slid on to get beneath the blast door. "What happened to you?"

"He has been injured," said Teal'c. "He needs-"

Ronin interrupted Teal'c, "I've been shot. No big deal. Nothing I can't handle." Ronin limped slightly down the hall to where Cameron stood, "We need to set up defenses here before they make it through that door."

"Right," Cameron said. He raised his radio and spoke, "Hey Sam. We're gonna need some heavy firepower up here. Send some guys up here with sandbags and some big guns." He glanced at Ronin, seeing his fresh blood soaked pants leg, "And get someone to bring a medical kit up here."

"I don't need your medicine," Ronin said angrily, trying not to show his pain.

"I know, tough guy," Cameron said patting him on his shoulder. "But we're gonna need you patched up and ready to kick some Lucian ass." Cameron stepped passed Ronin and met Teal'c halfway down the corridor, "How many?"

"There seems to be no end to their numbers," Teal'c answered. "But they seem to be slowing in how many men they send at a time. And we have lost fifteen men at the point of entry."

Cameron nodded, "Alright. We're gonna go with Ronin's idea and set up camp here. We need to stall them for as long as we can until we figure out a strategy. We won't be able to take all of them out just by fighting them like this."

Sam's voice crackled over Cameron's radio, "Mitchell, Col. Sheppard just beamed in with a group of men. I'll send them your way with everything you need."

Cameron nodded, "Speak of the devil. Looks like help is already here."

Suddenly, the blast door buckled and then burst open.

"Fall back!" Cameron shouted as Lucian soldiers suddenly began to stream into the corridor through the broken blast door. "Get to the elevator!" He and Teal'c ran back down the corridor, firing behind them blindly. They met with Ronin, taking his arms and putting them over each of their heads. They lifted his feet off the ground and carried him down the winding corridor as fast as they could. A few marines covered them as they went. "Get that elevator open!" Cameron shouted as they came around a corner to the hallway that led to the elevator. The marine's that were already at the elevator raised their weapons to cover them.

The doors opened, and Teal'c and Cameron rushed in, dropping Ronin to his feet as soon as they were inside. Teal'c placed his arm in the way of the elevator door, and Cameron pointed his weapon down the hallway as the marine's covering them came sprinting to the elevator. A Lucian soldier rounded the corner, fire and metal erupting from the nozzle of his rifle. The last marine lurched forward as he was hit. Cameron caught him as he fell forward into the elevator. Teal'c brought his arm back into the elevator, and everyone fired their weapons down the hallway as more Lucian's ran down to stop the elevator doors from closing. The doors were nearly closed when a Lucian soldier managed to get within a few inches from reaching his hand into the door. Ronin raised his weapon in that split second, letting off two shots through the narrow gap between the doors. The first shot met the Lucian's face, and the second shot hit him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. The doors closed, and the elevator began its decent downward into the depths of the mountain and the SGC.

Cameron got out his radio, "Col. Sheppard, this is Col. Mitchell, do you copy?"

Sheppard's voice responded over the radio, "Hear you loud and clear, Col. We're waiting for the elevator to come down."

"Good," Cameron replied, "then you can take Ronin and Sgt. Fritz to the infirmary to get patched up. We're comin' down. The Lucian's have control of the elevator corridor."

"Gotchya," Sheppard's voice answered.

Cameron let out a deep breath and turned to face Teal'c and Ronin. "Well…this sucks."

ͼͽ

Half way across the known universe, in the infirmary back on Destiny, TJ sat at a table looking through a microscope. She was examining the blood cells from one of the creatures that came through the gate. She was puzzled by what she was seeing through the lens. She turned the focusing dial slightly to see the cells more clearly. The blood cells under her microscope were different from the human blood cells she was used to seeing. The creature's blood was red, just like a human's blood, but the blood cells from the creature had nuclei. TJ drew her head away from the microscope, blinking a couple times to clear her eyes. The tablet lying on the table next to the microscope beeped, indicating that the test results were in. She picked it up and viewed over the test results, and the result was that the unconscious creatures behind her were reptilian.

This stumped her, because these creatures were anatomically different from any reptile that she had ever seen or read about. Their skin was just like human skin, soft and flexible, but strong. But there were no signs of any scales anywhere on these creatures. They were covered in fur, the exact opposite of what reptiles should have. They had nothing but sharp and oblique teeth on either of their upper and lower jaws, the very last one's being serrated, much like sharks teeth. The creatures also had long ears located at the top and near the backs of their heads, much like a wolf or a fennec fox. This would allow them to have excellent hearing, as good as a canine's hearing. The stranger thing is that they were bipedal. TJ was not familiar with reptile anatomy, but she knew for a fact that no reptile had the ability to walk upright, aside from one species of lizard that could run for short distances on its back legs. Even stranger still, the test results indicated that these reptilian creatures were warm-blooded.

TJ shook her head, _"This is by far the weirdest thing that's happened since we got here,"_ she thought to herself. _"Reptiles from another universe that take the place of humans?"_ She thought back to what O'Neill had said about different variations of the SG-1 team coming through the gate. She looked over her shoulder as the creature closest to her stirred, _"But how could a variation of this scale even exist? Parallel universes' are supposed to be nearly identical."_

The creature stirred again. It lifted up its right arm, and placed its clawed hand over its right eye and moaned. "Somebody get me an aspirin," it spoke in a soft, yet commanding female voice.

TJ froze for a moment, but regained her composure. She stood up from the table, walked over to a medical shelf and pulled one of the lower shelves out. She reached in and pulled out a bottle of aspirin that the Novans had supplied her with. She opened it and tipped the bottle over in her hand, a few pills rolling out into her palm. Returning all but one pill into the bottle, TJ closed the cap and replaced the bottle into the shelf. She walked over to the water dispenser, and filled a small plastic cup with water.

She turned towards the creature, her anxiety very high. She took a deep breath and thought to herself, _"Just act normal. Make it think that it's still in its home universe."_ She walked over to the creature's side as it sat up in the bed, still holding its hand over its eye. "Here, take this," TJ said in a calm voice, concealing her anxiety and fear.

The creature held out a hand and TJ dropped the pill in its palm, and handed it the cup of water. The creature kept its eyes closed while it tossed the pill into its jaws, and downed half of the cup of water. "Thanks, TJ," it said again. From its feminine voice, TJ concluded that it was probably female. Glancing at its flat chest, TJ saw the name "Riverstone" stitched in the name patch on its uniform. The uniform was identical to the Icarus Base uniforms that Young wore. On it's left shoulder was a patch of the symbol used for the rank of general.

Another creature stirred, but did not wake up. The creature named Riverstone turned its head in the direction of the other creatures. "What happened?"

TJ drew a deep breath silently before answering, "That's what we're trying to figure out. Rush said that the gate lit up like a light bulb when you guys came through. And when you came through, all of you just collapsed."

"Tarvock seems to have shut down too," the creature said. "Though, Eli can fix him up no problem." Riverstone sighed and turned her head toward TJ, "Did Everett make it throu-?"

Riverstone froze, as did TJ. Riverstone's cat-like pupils dilated, her sea green iris' shrinking to just thin outlines around the black of her pupils, and the cup in her hand fell to the floor, the remaining water splashed out onto the floor. TJ stepped back in fear, but tried to maintain her composure, "I'm not here to hurt you."

The fear in Riverstone's eyes was clear, "Who the hell are you? You're not TJ."

TJ shook her head, "No, I am…just not the TJ you're used to seeing. You see-"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riverstone exclaimed. "What did you do with TJ and what the hell are you doing on my ship? Where's Everett?"

TJ held up her hand, "Hold on, I'll have him and Rush come here right away. He'll explain everything."

ͼͽ

Young sighed after hearing Scott's report of the Lucian attack on the SGC. Varro stood next to Scott, arms crossed, shaking his head side to side. "Was there ever any plan to attack the SGC before you left for the Icarus-type planet?" Young asked Varro.

"No," Varro answered, "at least, none that I was aware of at the time. Plans like those usually aren't shared even with a leading officer's most trusted men. Not until the very last minute." He shook his head again, "But there's something off about this attack."

Young looked at Varro suspiciously, "What you mean?"

"It sounds almost like a desperate move," Varro answered, "like they're afraid of something. The Lucian Alliance I left behind normally doesn't attack without proper preparations." He looked at Scott, "How were they attacking? What were their tactics like?"

"The ground troops were using an access hatch at the top of the mountain," Scott answered, "and they had two cargo ships hitting the main entrance tunnel from a few hundred feet in the air to prevent anyone from escaping the surface levels. The ground troops were just pouring in through the access hatch entrance, guns blazing." He glanced at Young for a moment before looking back at Varro, "They weren't using any of the tactics you used when you infiltrated Destiny."

"Meaning?" asked Varro.

"No hostages and no organized attack strategy." Scott paused, "They just killed on sight, even the wounded."

Varro nodded, "Yes, they're getting desperate," he said to Young. "They wouldn't kill an enemy if he were on the ground, injured without thinking of taking him as a hostage. Something has them in a rush."

Young sighed again, "Let's just hope that they're not rushing to come here again."

TJ's voice spoke over Young's radio, "Col. One of our guests' is awake."

Young picked up his radio and spoke into it, "I'm on my way." He looked up at Varro and Scott, "Dismissed."

ͼͽ

In the control interface room, Rush, Terra, Brody, and Volker worked on finding out how the creatures managed to gate through the barriers between their universes'. Rush coached Terra on how to use the controls and how to read some of the various symbols. Brody assisted Volker with determining where the wormhole had emerged into their universe.

Volker's control panel made a sound, and Volker raised his eyebrows, "Whoa."

Everyone looked up at him. Brody spoke first, "What?"

Volker shook his head, "I don't know what just…" He trailed off before speaking again, turning a dial on the control panel, "You're not going to believe this."

"Try me," Rush said. "There's nothing I have yet to not believe in these days."

"Well," Volker continued, "I just put in the command to track the address that dialed our gate, and…" He paused to turn the dial again, and then spoke again, "It recognizes the address as one of the gates in this galaxy, but it's saying that it's not the gate that dialed Destiny."

"And?" asked Rush. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything, actually," Volker answered. "I'm looking at the gate activation logs for this galaxy, and it's telling me that every single gate in the galaxy activated for about the four minutes when those things dialed in." He pressed a couple buttons and his screen came up on the display. He turned another dial on the control panel, and a map of the galaxy appeared on the display. All of the gates registered as having dialed Destiny within the three days, when the creatures came through the gate.

Rush took off his glasses and stepped closer to the display screen.

"How is it possible for every gate in the galaxy to dial one gate at the exact same moment?" Terra asked.

"Every gate in the galaxy," Rush said to himself.

"What are you thinking, Rush?" Brody asked.

Rush shook his head, "We know that the creatures gated in from another universe, yes?"

"Yeah," Brody and Volker answered simultaneously.

"And we know that it requires a macro-program to dial every gate in a galaxy at the same time, correct?" Rush asked again.

Brody and Volker nodded. Terra studied the display screen carefully.

"But there was no macro-program, at least no human macro-program." Rush glanced at Terra.

Terra shook her head as she glanced over her shoulder at Rush, "My race does not have macro-programs capable of dialing every gate in the galaxy. We do have macro-programs', yes, but for purposes other than gate technology."

"Then that confirms my hunch," Rush said.

"Which is?" Brody asked.

"Wormhole inflation," answered Rush.

Brody and Volker glanced at one another. "What?" Volker asked.

"It's a rare glitch in gate technology," Rush replied. "It was a theory I came up with before the Icarus Project." He looked at Terra, "It is the act of a Stargate wormhole expanding beyond the natural borders that hold it together. Those borders prevent a Stargate from dialing more than one gate at a time, even if only one address is used."

"How does it happen?" Terra asked.

"It's only a theory," said Rush, "but I said that when an abnormal amount of energy is transferred into the wormhole, then the molecules that make up the walls of the wormhole become hyperactive, and breach the borders. Once they breach the borders, they expand the walls of the wormhole. They'll roam free at hyperspace speeds until they encounter another Stargate. That Stargate will be triggered into instantly activating. But it won't have its own individual wormhole. Instead, it will share the same wormhole that inflated and triggered the instant activation."

Terra digested this information, while Brody and Volker stared down blankly at their control panels, still trying to make sense of what Rush said.

"But that would mean that only a few Stargates will be activated at the same time," Terra said, "and share the same wormhole. How could wormhole inflation cause every single Stargate in an entire galaxy to activate and share the same wormhole?"

Rush shrugged, "We already know that it is possible for two Stargate's in completely different universes' to connect when a wormhole passes through a solar flare."

Terra scratched the bottom of her lower jaw, "Solar flare?" She paused for a moment, thinking rapidly. "Of course!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

"What?" asked Volker.

"You said two universes' may be connected via Stargates when a wormhole passes through a solar flare, correct?" Terra asked, looking at Rush.

Rush nodded, "Yes, that is what I just said." Rush suspected she was onto something, and this intrigued him, "What are you getting at?"

"Just think," Terra replied. "If two universes' can be connected by Stargate when a wormhole passes through a solar flare, imagine the amount of energy that the molecules in the wormhole walls are absorbing." Terra's tail flicked, her excitement evident, "What if a wormhole from another universe was to pass through a few, or maybe more than a few solar flares'?"

Rush put his hand to his chin, scratching the stubble as he pondered what Terra just suggested. "The amount of energy in those molecules would be increased a hundredfold if a wormhole passed through a few solar flares." He shook his head, "But that still would not be enough to cause the wormhole to inflate and connect with more than ten or so gates within the vicinity of where the wormhole emerged into another universe."

"Then that means," Brody said, "that the wormhole passed through more than a few solar flares. What if it passes through…ten solar flares? Would that be enough to trigger the activation of every Stargate in a galaxy?"

Rush looked up at the display screen of the galaxy dotted with thousands of Stargates. He shook his head, "No, that still would not be enough." He thought for a moment, "I'm thinking more in the range of a hundred solar flares."

"What?" Brody and Volker both said at the same time.

"A hundred solar flares?" Terra asked. She glanced up at the display as well, "That may just be enough. But a hundred solar flares occurring at the exact same moment? I find that difficult to imagine."

Rush glanced back at Terra, "Oh, believe me. Once you've spent more than enough time on this ship, nothing is difficult to imagine. There are still stranger things in this universe that any normal human being would find unbelievable. In fact, my idea of being able to activate the Stargate using all nine chevrons was laughed at."

"And look where we are now," Brody added.

"Point taken," Terra replied. She looked up at the display screen again, "But I agree with what you said earlier when your General was here. 'A variation such as this one?' Not even parallel universes' can be this different."

Rush nodded, "Aye. It seems unlikely that they came from a parallel universe."

"Then what?" Volker asked. "You're saying they're from another dimension or something?"

"That," said Rush, "or it's possible that we may have the very first inhabitants from a perpendicular universe onboard this ship."

Terra tilted her head slightly, "'Perpendicular universe'?"

"What's that?" asked Brody.

"It was a rejected theory I read about many years ago," Rush stated, "during the first few days I was in the Stargate Program. The parallel universe theory was already a hot debate in the scientific community, but it was a proven theory by the SGC. But not even the SGC would accept the theory of perpendicular universes'."

"Okay," Volker said, "but what exactly IS a perpendicular universe?"

Rush turned to face all three of them, "A universe very similar in many ways to ours, but very different in many ways as well. In this kind of universe, we humans, or Petrus'iri, may not even exist. Our species' may be replaced by species' that don't exist in our universe. In this kind of universe, events that happened in our universe, may have never occurred, or occurred differently. Similarly, events that did not happen in this universe may have happened in a perpendicular universe. In perpendicular universes', the flow of time may be different, or time may not exist. The Ancients may not exist, and Stargates would not exist as well."

"So…" Brody thought about it carefully, "basically, everything that can happen in this universe, doesn't happen in that kind of universe, or what exists here, doesn't exist there, or vice versa?"

"Somewhat correct," Rush answered. "But perpendicular universes' may also share the same events that occurred in the same way as well."

"A genius idea," Terra said. "That would account for why we heard Col. Young's voice over the radio, and why humans did not come through the gate. But then what about this, 'Destiny Two'?"

"The second Destiny and second Rush," Volker stated as he stared down blankly at his control panel.

"The what?" Terra asked.

"We tried to dial our home planet from within a star," Rush answered. "But it didn't work…at least, not the first time."

"First time?" Terra was puzzled now.

"We came across another Destiny from an earlier timeline," Rush replied. "For some reason, the dialing attempt did not work, and everyone aboard the ship was transported two thousand years into the past. Everyone, but one." Rush glanced at Brody and Volker, "That was back in the other galaxy. The ship and their Rush were only transported back in time a few hours. We came across the other Rush and Destiny, just as we were about to attempt the same thing they attempted before us. The other Rush stopped us from making the same mistake, and that's why we're here now, and their," Rush pointed at Volker, Brody, and indicated the rest of the crew, "descendants colonized the planets that had Stargates in the other galaxy…and why they are also here in this galaxy. But the second Destiny was damaged beyond repair, and it was pulled into the star."

"What of the other Rush?" Terra asked.

Rush shook his head, "We don't know where he disappeared to. We assume he went down with the ship."

Terra nodded, "Then that explains the 'Destiny Two'. Perhaps the first Destiny was also transported back in time along with the first crew in their universe?"

Rush understood where Terra was going with this, "Perhaps. It might have been too damaged for the first crew to repair it. And maybe the next Destiny crew was able to fully repair the second ship to working order." He scratched the stubble on his chin again, "Very intriguing. It is possible that is what happened. But we won't know until we ask the creatures."

"Two Destiny's," Volker said. "Why didn't that happen to us?"

"I know what you mean," Brody said. "Imagine the advantages of having two of the same exact ship. More of the same technology."

Just then, Young walked into the control room, "What's everyone talking about?"

"Perpendicular universes'," Volker answered.

"What?" asked Young. He shook his head, "Never mind, one of those things is awake." He quickly passed by Rush and down the hallway.

"I'm coming with you," Rush said.

"May I join you?" Terra asked.

"Very well," Rush answered.

ͼͽ

In the infirmary, TJ tried to calm the creature named Riverstone down a little. She succeeded in dispelling her fear somewhat, but she was still uneasy about not seeing the TJ she knew in front of her.

TJ was cleaning the spilled water off the floor when Varro walked in. "Tamara," he said, "Lt. Scott came back. He said that the SGC is under attack by the Lucian Alliance."

Riverstone's eyes narrowed to slits as Varro spoke.

"How bad is it?" TJ asked.

"Lt. Scott could only say that before he came back, it was a stalemate," answered Varro.

"What the hell is going on here?" Riverstone asked out loud. "First you sound like TJ," she said pointing at TJ, then at Varro, "now this guy sounds like Varro, and you're saying the SGC is under attack again?"

TJ stood up and Varro walked over and stood next to her, crossing his arms. "You must be the one who was talking on the radio before you came through. What do you mean by 'the SGC is under attack again'?"

Riverstone looked at them both suspiciously, "The attack happened three weeks ago."

Varro and TJ glanced at each other. "Three weeks ago?" TJ asked.

"Yeah," Riverstone replied, "that's what I just said. What, are you deaf or something?"

"No, she isn't," Varro answered. "We're just confused by you saying that the attack happened three weeks ago. The attack occurred only two hours ago."

Riverstone shook her head, "No, it was three weeks ago. I would know, because I used the communications stone to go to Earth and stop the Lucians. And you say you're confused? Are you as confused as I am? Because I'm still trying to figure out why Varro and TJ's voices are coming out of your mouths when you don't even look like them at all!"

Young entered the infirmary, followed by Rush and Terra, "What's with all the yelling?" asked Young.

Riverstone's pupils widened, "Everett?"

Young stopped, "Yes. How do you know my name?"

Riverstone's eyes migrated over his shoulder, and saw Terra walking in, "Terra, what the hell is going on here? Who are these people? What are they doing here on my ship?"

"You're ship?" Young asked. "Now it's my turn. Who are you?"

Riverstone glared at him and her upper lip curled up, "I am General Shandra Riverstone. I demand to know how the hell you people got on my ship, what you have done to my people, and what has happened to Destiny Two?" Her strong commanding voice seemed to be full of anger, but the fear in her voice was just as obvious.

Varro and TJ looked over their shoulders at Young, Rush and Terra.

Rush approached Riverstone where she sat on the bed, "I think I can explain to you everything that has happened within the last three days." Riverstone looked at Rush with suspicion, recognizing his voice, but not his face. "You have been transported from your universe into ours. We are not exactly sure why or how, but I assume that the wormhole which brought you and your friends here passed through around a hundred or so solar flares."

Riverstone was skeptical, "Yeah, sure. I know the whole solar flare thing and alternate universes', but I don't believe it. Parallel universes' are similar in lots of aspects. You people are nowhere near being alternate versions of my people."

"Actually," Terra said, stepping forward, "you are correct that this is not a parallel universe. But you are in another universe. Just think, why is it that you are able to know our names by our voices, but not by our appearances?" Riverstone blinked, seeming to realize that what Terra was saying was true. "You were able to recognize me easily, but I do not personally know you. I have only been on this ship for three days, and we only received news from Lt. Scott that their people were under attack a few hours earlier."

Riverstone digested what Terra said. It seemed that she was right.

"Let me further clarify why this seems familiar, yet very different for you," Rush added. "You are not from a parallel universe. You and your friends are the first inhabitants from a perpendicular universe to ever set foot in our universe."

One Riverstone's ears lay down while the other pricked forward. She seemed utterly confused, "Perpen…dicular universe?"

Rush sighed, "It's difficult to explain, but I'll put it in a brief definition. Basically…your universe is both similar in many aspects to ours, but also very different in many aspects to ours." He paused, then continued, "That is why you are in a very familiar environment, and hearing familiar voices, but seeing alien faces belonging to those voices."

Riverstone looked down at the floor, realizing that what Rush was saying was true, "Then that means certain people in my universe, don't exist in your universe, right?"

Rush nodded, "Aye, that may also be true."

"But then how is it that your SGC has just been attacked?" Riverstone asked. "The attack happened three weeks ago in my universe."

"The flow of time may also differ between our universes'," Terra answered. She glanced at Rush, "Perhaps their universe is three weeks ahead of ours?"

"That seems more than likely," Rush said nodding.

"If that's true," Young said from behind Rush, "then that means that she knows a way of fighting off the Lucian attack."

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker and dim, and at that moment Destiny dropped out of FTL.

"What just happened?" Young asked.

"I'm not sure," Rush said. He turned to Young and reached out his hand, "Lend me your radio." Young handed Rush his radio, and Rush contacted Brody, "Mr. Brody, why have we dropped out of FTL? And what was with the power fluctuation?"

Brody's voice responded, "I don't know. There shouldn't have been any fluctuations and no reason for Destiny to drop out of FTL. The nearest Stargate is five thousand light-years away."

Riverstone turned her head to look at her comrade next to her, "Oh no."

Rush turned to look at her, "What is it?"

Riverstone pointed a clawed finger at her comrade, "That."

Everyone followed her finger to her comrade. There, they saw something around its neck, glowing a brilliant sky-blue color, like a star.

Rush and Terra cautiously approached the other creature to examine the strange glowing object.

"What is it?" Terra asked.

"That would be Col. Addamo's star heart crystal," Riverstone answered.

"'Star heart crystal'?" Young asked. "And that is…"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Riverstone answered. "What you are looking at, is the very heart of a blue supergiant star. It's a massive power source, and it's causing interference with the ships systems."

Rush pushed his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose as he leaned forward for a closer look.

"Be careful," said Riverstone, "he might-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Addamo's sky blue eyes shot open. In a split second, he had opened his jaws, exposing his sharp teeth. Two large, inch and a half long sharp fangs on his upper jaw sprang up from two nooks in his gums located on the inside of his teeth, just between the first two sets of teeth. He lunged up at Rush with surprising speed. But Addamo didn't get close enough to snap his jaws shut on Rush's left shoulder, for Terra had also lunged forward. She grasped his long neck, and shoved his head back down onto the pillow. Startled, Rush jumped back. Addamo struggled for a few moments underneath Terra's powerful grip on his neck, then stopped when he saw who it was. "Terra?" Addamo asked, his strong masculine voice sounding weak under Terra's firm hold. The two sets of fangs retracted back into the concealed nooks in his gums.

"Do not be alarmed," Terra said, "we are not here to harm you."

"Tom, stand down," Riverstone said.

Addamo looked to his right at Riverstone, revealing many large scars on the left side of his face and head, "General?"

"To put it bluntly," said Riverstone, "we're in another universe."

Terra released her grip on Addamo, and allowed him to sit up. He looked uneasily at Rush, and the others behind him as he massaged his throat, "Another universe?" His voice was rough, like that of a heavy smoker, but also very strong.

Rush regained his composure and fixed his glasses, "Aye. You were transported into our universe when you attempted to dial your Destiny. You're from a universe perpendicular to ours."

One of Addamo's ears flicked downwards while the other stood straight up and he tilted his head slightly to one side, "Rush?"

Rush nodded, "Aye. This is what I look like in this universe. I'm a human being."

Addamo glanced at Riverstone, still nerve racked, "Please tell me this is just some hallucination Destiny is making us see."

Riverstone shook her head, "Unfortunately Tom, it's not. We're not on Destiny Two. There is no Destiny Two in this universe…so it seems."

Young stepped forward, "There are two Destiny's in your universe?"

Riverstone nodded, "Yeah. Got sent back in time the first time when the first crew tried dialing Earth inside a star."

"Like we did," TJ said, "but Destiny wasn't sent back in time."

"And two thousand years later," Varro said, "You come along, about to make the same mistake, only to be stopped by their descendants, right?"

Riverstone turned an eye on Varro, "Yeah. That's basically what happened."

"Going back to the Lucian attack on the SGC," Young said, "how was the SGC able to fight off the Lucians?"

Riverstone sighed, "Well, I'm not sure if this is true for your universe, but since Terra has been on the ship for only three days here, then in two days I am to use the communications stone to switch bodies with Col. Carter. Afterwards, I am to take out about half of the Lucian forces along with Teal'c, Ronin, Teyla, and Vala." She looked around the room at all the alien faces she has come to accept as being those of her crew, only of another universe. No one seemed to know how that is going to happen. "I take it that I don't exist in your universe."

Young shook his head, "There is no Shandra Riverstone registered in either the SGC personnel list, or any other military personnel records. I don't even think the name Riverstone even exists."

Addamo took a deep breath, "If that's true, then that means I don't exist in this universe also."

"I guess that's true," Young answered. "There's no Col. Addamo in the SGC personnel records either."

Addamo sighed, looking down at the floor, "Great."

"Then what are we going to do?" TJ asked. "If she doesn't exist in our universe, then how are we going to help stop the Lucians?"

"I have an idea," Varro said. All eyes turned to him, "You may not exist in our universe, but you're here now, at a critical point in our timeline."

"So you're suggesting we have her switch bodies with a human being?" asked Rush. "You really think that is a good idea?"

"It may sound crazy," said Varro, "but she is here. She said five days after Terra joins the crew, she went to Earth to defeat the Lucian attack force. In only two days, that same event would happen if she also existed in our universe."

"I don't think that's a good idea," TJ said. "Imagine the psychological trauma the two would experience, switching into alien bodies. I mean, our anatomy is completely different from theirs, especially on the molecular level. They're reptiles, and we're mammals. I don't think merging a reptiles mind with a mammals body will work. It'll probably kill them at the least."

"Not necessarily," Rush said shaking his head. "Remember when Young switched bodies with the alien? Their physiology is completely different from ours, even on the neural level. Yet he and the alien both survived the switching of bodies and their minds stayed intact."

"But our physiology is different from theirs and yours," Addamo said. "Our visual abilities are similar to that of a…of a horse! We don't have the same depth perception as the Blueis' do."

"Blueis'?" asked Young.

"It's the name he's given to the aliens that abducted Chloe," Riverstone answered. She shook her head, "Unfortunately, in our universe, Young had a hard time coordinating his mind with the aliens' body. Although, you are right that both stayed mentally intact."

"Don't tell me you're up for it General," Addamo said shaking his head in disbelief.

Riverstone glanced at Addamo, "I am." Addamo began to protest, but she stopped him, "It's my decision Tom." She turned to look at Young and Varro, "I feel that it's necessary for me to help these people, even if they are from another universe. I just have that gut feeling that it's what I'm supposed to do."

"And there you go again," Addamo said rolling his eyes, "about the 'gut feeling'."

Riverstone glanced at him sideways, "They are what's kept me alive all these years."

"Yeah," Addamo replied, "they're also what nearly killed you too many times before, like they almost did four days ago."

Young entered the conversation, "What happened?"

"We were rescuing Eli over there," Addamo motioned with his head at the third creature lying on the other bed, "and Mrs. Gut Feelings over here decided to go one on twenty against…zombie things."

All heads turned to look at the unconscious creature.

"So, that is Eli?" Rush asked.

Addamo nodded, "Yep. The Bluei's made the mistake of going to a planet that was covered by a parasitic organism that had incorporated nanotechnology into its make-up." He peered over at the creature named Eli, "They didn't stand a chance, but Eli was smart enough to seal himself into a cryo-chamber that the parasite was unable to assimilate. He froze himself for the time it took us to find out where he was."

"And it's the same parasite," Riverstone added, "that basically wiped out the entire Petrus'iri population throughout the galaxy." She turned her head to look at Terra, "You're the sole survivor of the plague, Terra."

Terra was a bit shocked, "The…only survivor?"

Riverstone nodded, "Yes. But you are pregnant with triplets, are you not?"

Terra nodded, still a bit shaken about hearing that she was the last of her kind in Riverstone's universe.

"But didn't the descendants in your universe," TJ asked, "arrive in time to prevent the parasite from spreading to the entire population?"

Riverstone and Addamo glanced at one another, a bit confused. "The descendants?" Addamo asked.

"From the other galaxy," TJ replied. "Didn't they make it to the next galaxy? The one we're in now?"

Riverstone shook her head slowly, still confused, "No. How would they have managed that? They didn't possess any FTL technology on their ships."

"That may be true," said Rush, "but there was a natural wormhole beyond the orbit of Novus' third moon. The third Tenaran ship actually made it off the planets surface, and traveled through the wormhole. They ended up here thirty years ago, and helped in the search for a cure for the parasite. We were the answer…or Dr. McKay was the answer." Rush became aware of something, "But if your descendants didn't make it to this galaxy, then you're people weren't supplied with adequate provisions, correct?"

Riverstone nodded, "Yes. We're still searching the galaxy with Terra's help for planets that have viable food and water sources and medicinal plants." She glanced at Addamo, "That is, our crew is still searching the galaxy."

"Then that means," TJ said, realizing something, "that your TJ doesn't have the cure for ALS."

Riverstone's ears dropped back a little, her expression turned solemn, "Yes, she doesn't have the cure."

TJ looked at Young as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

Young returned everyone's attention to Eli, "If you already found Eli in your universe, then maybe you can help us locate our Eli."

ͼͽ

Back up in the control room, Volker and Brody continued to work. As Volker worked on finding stars that were going through the solar flare cycle, the tablet laying on his control panel beeped twice. He picked it up and looked over the gate data that it displayed. As he scanned the data, something caught his eye and made him stop. He looked over the information again, "I think we're in luck."

Brody looked up, "Really? Did we win the jackpot that happened three years ago?"

Volker shook his head, "No, but I just found something interesting." He walked over to Brody and placed the tablet on the console, and pointed to the information that caught his eye, "This one is still active."

Brody looked over the data, shaking his head, "That's not possible." He scanned over the data again, "It should've deactivated three days ago. A gate can't maintain a wormhole for that long, much less a stable one with another universe. It's theoretically impossible."

Volker nodded, "My thoughts exactly."

Brody picked up his radio and called Rush.

ͼͽ

"There's one thing that I don't understand about this whole thing," said Addamo. "Why now?" He looked around the room, "Why this universe? Why not just a parallel universe?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Riverstone stated. "Why weren't we transported to a similar universe? Why this…perpendicular universe?"

Young turned his head to Rush, who shrugged.

"Perhaps," said Terra, "the wormhole absorbed so much energy from passing through possibly a hundred solar flares, that it broke the barrier between our universes'."

Rush nodded, "Aye. Normally the boundary between our two universes' is next to impossible to break by a wormhole energized by a single solar flare."

"But multiply by a hundred solar flares," Terra added, "the particles have absorbed such a great amount of energy, that that barrier just became possible to penetrate, and send the wormhole here into our universe."

"A hundred solar flares?" Addamo asked. "At the exact same moment?"

Terra nodded, "That is what we assume."

Brody's voice crackled over Rush's radio, "Dr. Rush, we just found something I think you'd like to see."

Rush rolled his eyes, "There's nothing that I wouldn't like to see anymore at this point." He raised his radio, "Very well, I'm on my way." He turned towards the infirmary entrance. He called over his shoulder, "And before you ask, General Riverstone, you may join me if you wish. After all, this is in a way also your ship."

Young stopped him, placing his hand in front of Rush, "Who said you could tell these people they can walk freely around the ship? We don't know exactly if they really are from another universe. They could be another alien threat trying to take over Destiny."

Rush sighed in frustration, "Col., if they were a security threat, then they'd know absolutely nothing about this ship, nor our names." He leaned closer to Young, "They are from another universe, Col. We've already established that fact as truth. We have never encountered their kind, nor have they encountered ours, so there is absolutely no way that they could be putting on a show just to distract us as they slowly take over the ship." Young started to say something in protest, but Rush stopped him, "You need to hold your soldier ego on a tighter leash, Col. I am sorry, but you need to start thinking more logically about situations such as these." He indicated Riverstone and Addamo, "Even General O'Neill said that it looked like the same situation that SG-1 encountered a few years ago. How would you explain their uniforms? How would an alien species that has never seen our race manage to copy our clothing? Explain that to me."

"I can't," Young answered

"There you go," Rush responded.

Young bit his lip as he returned his gaze to Riverstone and Addamo, "I still think we need to put some security on them."

Rush shook his head, "No. We need to treat them like human beings-"

"But they're not human," Young interrupted.

"That's beside the point, Col.," Rush retorted quietly. "They have been put into an environment they are familiar with, yet also not familiar with at the same time. This is as much their home as it is ours, even if it may not be their home."

Young looked down at the floor and sighed, "Fine. But if anything goes wrong, and it's related to them, I'm not going to say 'I told you so.'"

Rush nodded, "Trust me, you won't have to." He glanced over his shoulder at Riverstone, "General Riverstone, you may join me if you wish." He quickly left the infirmary.

Riverstone seemed to think about Rush's offer for a moment before she jumped off the bed. The claws on her feet clacked and scratched across the surface of the floor. She nodded at Young as she passed him, and stopped just outside the infirmary entrance. She spoke to Young without turning her head to face him, "Everett. I know what you must be thinking right now. But you have my word, we are not a security threat. I'm sure that even Jack would understand the situation we are all facing here." She called to Addamo, "Tom, you stay here with Eli and Tarvock. Have Eli reactivate Tarvock once he wakes up."

Addamo sighed, "Leaving me out of the fun and exciting stuff again." He looked up at Riverstone's back, "Yes ma'am."

Riverstone left the infirmary, following Rush to the control interface room. Her long slender tail bobbed up and down a few inches above the floor in correspondence with her steps.

Terra remained where she stood. The realization that her people would have been close to becoming extinct forever, and that she could have been the sole survivor began to sink in. The knowledge that she was the sole survivor of her race in another universe hit her really hard. Even though it was in another universe, she still felt for the other Terra, still felt that it was close to being a truth for her. If it weren't for the Novan's arriving just as the global outbreak began, she would be in the same position as the other Terra. She realized that her entire race owes its survival to the Novan's. She wasn't sure if there was anyway of repaying the Novans for saving her race.

She was shaken from her trance by TJ, "Terra. Don't let the fact that you're the only one left in their universe bother you." She placed a hand on Terra's shoulder and smiled, "Be grateful that in their universe, you're also pregnant. You're species will survive in their universe because you were smart, and you thought ahead."

Terra shook her head, "It is not that which is bothering me." She tilted her head slightly towards TJ to look at her with one eye, "It is the fact that my species was a mere day away from becoming just a memory…if it were not for the arrival of your species. For once in my species history, we were forced to depend on another species for guidance…and survival." She paused, and looked ahead of her again, "And for that, I think it is safe for me to say that on behalf of all my people, you and your people have our eternal thanks. I do not think we can ever repay your kind for saving us."

TJ smiled, "It's not us you should be thanking. It's the Novans, our descendants you should be thanking. We only just arrived here a week ago, not thirty years ago."

"But you are of the same species," Terra replied, "and that is all that matters. Our species was always independent, and a simple parasite rendered us helpless and weak, depending on another species to survive. I think it was the right decision for my people to trust yours."

"Well," said TJ, patting Terra's shoulder, "we humans are always looking to help others, even if they may look to be alien, or are alien. We are a people of peace and freedom, and generosity. It's in our nature to provide assistance to anyone that needs it."

Young walked over to join the conversation, "And preserving the culture of another race is our top priority, not just looking for allies and sharing technology. Our people are multicultural, and it's also in our nature to learn what we can from others. Our descendants lived up to that, and that's why we're a proud race."

Addamo joined the conversation from his bed, "Speaking of pride, you let Rush talk down to you. The Young I know would never let that happen. Besides, I agree with you that you should have some security with the General. I suggest you send your Lt. Scott to guard her…if he exists here. He and Shandra seem to work well together." He paused, "Work well as a team, not personal life I mean. When it comes to personal life, it's her and me that are involved."

Young raised his radio and told Scott to go and watch Riverstone.

Varro joined his voice to the conversation, "You two are involved?"

Addamo nodded, "Yeah. Married, actually."

Young raised his eyebrows, "Married? But you two don't have the same last name."

"Is that how you do it in this universe?" Addamo asked. He shrugged, "When a couple is married in my universe, neither the man nor the woman changes his or her last name."

"But then what determines the last name of your children?" asked TJ.

"Well," Addamo said, pondering for a moment, "it's a bit complicated, but usually with the first born, it's the name of whoever's family has more status in society. When a couple has more than one kid, then usually the names alternate."

"On the topic of names," Varro said, "I don't think the question about what you call your species was raised."

Addamo nodded, "Yes. You call yourselves human, right?" Young, TJ and Varro nodded, "Well, I am a Viterosaur. My species is descended from the _Eodromaeus_ raptor. We first appeared on Earth about two hundred thirty-one million years ago."

"Two-hundred thirty million years?" TJ said, surprised. She glanced at Young for a moment, the back at Addamo.

Addamo nodded, "Yeah. We were a mutant species, so to speak. Of course, we didn't exactly look like I do now in the beginning, so it took us about a hundred million years or so to evolve into what you're seeing now."

"Which means," said Terra, "that you are an advanced civilization, correct?"

"Yeah," Addamo answered nodding. "Well, not as advanced as your species, Terra, but still advanced. I guess you could say that our technology may be on par with the technology of the Asgard. Our culture may just be older than that of our Ancients," he said shaking his head, "but we have yet to prove that."

"If your species evolved that long ago," Varro said, "then your species must be highly diverse, right?"

Addamo shrugged, "Well, I am just a subspecies of the original Viterosaur species. I guess you can say our species is diverse, since there's about forty or fifty different subspecies. The General is of the original species that all others are descended from. She's a pureblood."

"You're a subspecies?" Terra asked.

Addamo nodded, "Yep. I am a venomous species of Viterosaur."

Young raised his eyebrows, "Venomous?" He glanced at TJ, then back at Addamo, "Then you tried to kill Rush."

"No, no," Addamo replied, shaking his head, "it was only instinctive. I don't really have control over myself whenever instinct takes over. Besides, wouldn't you react the same way if you saw a bunch of strange alien faces staring down at you?"

Young shrugged, "Maybe, but that's beside the point. You could've killed Rush. If it wasn't for Terra, Rush would be lying on the ground with a white sheet over his body right now."

TJ turned to Young, "Col. He wasn't really-"

Young interrupted her, "I don't care. His instincts almost killed Rush. He's even a venomous species." He turned to face Addamo, "I'm sorry Col. Addamo, but I'm going to have to put some security on you for the time you're on this ship."

Addamo shrugged, "Fine by me, Col. Our Young would do the exact same thing." He paused, "Although, I don't think he would've really cared much about Rush. Those two hate each other's guts."

"Well, in this universe," said Young, "everyone on this ship is family. We've set aside our differences a while ago, and there aren't anymore secrets to hide." He turned to Varro, "I want you to stay here and watch over him until Greer gets here." With that, he left the infirmary. Terra looked over her shoulder at Young as he disappeared around the edge of the infirmary doorway. She sighed, and quickly left the infirmary as well, following Young.

Varro nodded without answering.

TJ shook her head and sighed, "I'm sorry, Col. Addamo. He's still a bit angry over the fact that Eli is being held prisoner by the aliens that abducted Chloe. And frustrated that we still don't have control over the ship yet."

"It's alright, TJ," replied Addamo. "It's probably the better idea for him to put security on me." He sighed, "But can you do me a favor?"

"Sure," said TJ, "what is it?"

"Can you get me my cigarettes from my vest?" asked Addamo with an innocent smile on his dinosaur-wolf-like face.

TJ smiled, "Sure thing, Col." She went over to the table with the vests and found the one with Addamo's name stitched on it. She went through the pockets until she pulled out a small thin white paper box wrapped in plastic. She pulled out what looked like a small silver lighter from the same pocket. She walked back over to Addamo and handed him the pack of cigarettes and the lighter.

"Thanks, TJ," Addamo said, taking the cigarettes and lighter from her. TJ turned to walk over to her work table, but Addamo stopped her, "And TJ." She turned to face him, "You can call me Tom."

ͼͽ

Scott headed in the direction of the control interface room. Chloe walked along side him. They turned a corner, and Rush passed by them. Scott called to him, "Dr. Rush. Young said that some General was with you."

"He said General Riverstone," Chloe corrected him.

"Aye," Rush called back not stopping, "you'll know it's her when you see her."

Scott gave Chloe a bit of a concerned look, "Maybe you shouldn't be here with me. This thing might be dangerous."

Chloe shook her head, "No Matt. I want to meet her. She's from another universe, and there aren't a lot of chances of meeting someone from another universe."

Scott sighed, "Fine, but stay near me. We don't know if 'she' is really who she says she is." Scott looked down the hallway, "Those things might be here to infiltrate the ship, just like the Lucians infiltrated us."

"Oh c'mon Matt!" said Chloe. "Don't be like that. There's no way they could possibly know about Destiny, or even be wearing the same uniforms as you if they weren't from another universe."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Don't be so sure of that."

Chloe started to say something, but stopped when she saw Riverstone step around the corner. Scott looked in the same direction. Chloe whispered to him, "She's beautiful."

Scott nodded, "Yeah, but she could be deadly." He called to Riverstone, "Hello, General…Riverstone?"

Riverstone looked up, "Lt. Scott, I presume?"

Scott nodded, "Yes ma'am. Col. Young wants me to walk with you to the control room. Is that alright with you?"

Riverstone nodded, "You may, Lt. I think I need the company anyway."

Scott nodded and joined Riverstone, walking by her left side to the control interface room. Chloe walked on the other side of Riverstone, much to Scott's dismay.

"I assume that you are Chloe," Riverstone said, turning an eye on Chloe.

Chloe nodded, "Yeah. Do I look different from the Chloe you know?"

Riverstone nodded, returning her gaze down the hallway, "In my universe, you're of my species, but of a different subspecies. Actually, both you and Matthew are the same subspecies. You two are adapted to living in water. That subspecies is from the tropical environment of the Amazon Rainforest, but it took to living in the rivers, rather than on land." She smirked, "But unlike both your parents, you two prefer to live among the land-walkers."

"Subspecies?" Scott asked. His suspicion of Riverstone faded. "There's more than one of your kind?"

"Yeah," Riverstone answered. "There's about fifty different subspecies, on Earth." She placed her four fingered hand on her flat chest, "I am a pureblood, the original species, and all others are descended from us." She frowned, "There's not very many of us purebloods left."

"Why?" asked Chloe. "Aren't you the dominant species on Earth in your universe?"

Riverstone nodded, "Yeah. Purebloods were very abundant on Earth, with a population of about sixty billion by the beginning of the Pliocene Epoch." She glanced at Scott and saw that he was confused, "I meant by the last five million years of our history." She sighed and looked down towards the end of the hallway, "But most of the purebloods left Earth through the Stargate after the fall of Goa'uld in Egypt. By the time the Hashverin Empire fell apart, the pureblood population was reduced to several million."

Chloe was a bit shocked, "From sixty billion to only a few million?"

"How's that possible?" Scott asked.

Riverstone sighed again, "Most of the pureblood population disappeared within the last five million years through interbreeding with other subspecies." Riverstone paused, clenching her fists tightly, "Another large factor of pureblood population loss is due to the Goa'uld enslavement and harvesting for hosts that happened at the beginning of Nano-Egypt's time. After the slaves overthrew the Goa'uld, a fairly large part of the population decided to leave the planet after learning that there were thousands of other planets just like Earth." Riverstone glanced at both Chloe and Scott, who were listening intently to her history lesson on her species, "After they all left, the Stargate was sealed away in a pit of heavy water with a bit of old fashioned cement. It remained sealed away for almost five thousand years."

"Nano-Egypt?" Scott asked, confused by the name. "You guys had that kind of technology that long ago?"

Riverstone nodded, "Yes. It seems my race is far more advanced than yours."

"So then, your pureblood species are…rare?" Chloe asked, returning the focus of the conversation back to Riverstone's people.

Riverstone nodded, "Yes. But not just on Earth anymore. Even though purebloods spread out into the galaxy, developing the different alien culture's that SG-1 has encountered over the years, even they have evolved and become slightly different. They still possess the pureblood genes, yes, but they are no longer considered the pureblood species. They've become subspecies as well."

"So how many different species are there of your kind?" asked Scott. "I mean, how many in the whole Milky Way?"

Riverstone was silent for a moment as she pondered. The sound of her claws clicking and scrapping against the hard surface of the floor echoed through the hallway. After a few moments, she answered, "I'd say more or less than three hundred subspecies of my kind throughout the whole galaxy. So, yes the purebloods are rare." Riverstone looked at Scott, "Now, tell me about your species, Lt."

ͼͽ

Rush entered the control interface room. Wray stood next to Brody, looking over the gate data with him. Dr. Park stood by Volker, helping him with different calculations.

"Alright," said Rush. Everyone looked up at him, "You called me here, and now I'm here. What is it you needed me to see?"

Dr. Park answered him first, "To put it bluntly, one of the Stargates is still active from the time the creatures came through." She was no longer wearing black sunglasses. Instead, she was looking directly at Rush.

Rush's became interested, "Still active? After almost four days?"

"That's what Destiny's gate logs are saying," Brody answered. "We don't know how it's possible, but we've run the gate activity logs several times already, and keep getting the same result."

"I thought Stargates could only maintain a stable wormhole for thirty-eight minutes," Wray said. "I don't think there's ever been a time where a Stargate remains open longer than a couple hours, has there?"

"There is now," Volker said.

"There must be something else going on," Rush said as he walked over to Brody and Wray. Brody handed him the tablet with the gate data, "The only instances a gate has remained open longer than the maximum limit was with the black hole incident, and when the Ori first appeared in the Milky Way." He shook his head, running through the data multiple times, "There must be some sort of power source on the other side of that wormhole keeping that gate open, it's the only possible explanation."

"Wait," said Volker, "you said that the Ori managed to keep a gate open longer than thirty-eight minutes, right?"

Rush nodded, "Aye, I did say that."

"And that was in the Milky Way," Volker continued, "where the gates are more…advanced."

Rush pondered for a moment, "What are you saying, Mr. Volker?"

"What I'm saying," Volker replied, "is that these gates that we are using are far less advanced than the Milky Way gates." He glanced at Dr. Park, "Right? These gates were made when gate technology was still in the prototype stages."

"I see where you're going with this," Brody said. "You're saying that because these gates are so old and primitive, there might be some glitches and bugs still in them, right?"

Volker nodded, and looked at Rush, a bit pleased with himself.

Rush rubbed his chin in deep thought. He carefully thought over what Volker said. "A likely theory," he said nodding, but dismissed it with a wave of his hand, "but highly unlikely. There needs to be a large amount of energy being fed into the receiving Stargate to maintain a stable wormhole longer than the maximum time."

Volker seemed a bit down about having his theory dismissed so easily, "But since these gates are so old and primitive, maybe it takes a lesser amount of energy to maintain a stable worm hole for a longer period of time."

"I think that's the more likely cause," Dr. Park said. "These gates are much older than the Milky Way gates, so it only seems valid that it will take less energy to do that."

Rush nodded, "Perhaps you're right. But we won't know for sure until we visit the planet the gate is on." Then he remembered that Destiny had dropped out of FTL earlier, "Have we jumped back into FTL yet?"

Brody quickly checked his console and shook his head, "No. We're still drifting in the void halfway between New Novus and the next planet with a Stargate."

Rush pondered for a moment, thinking of what Riverstone had said earlier after Destiny dropped out of FTL. He spoke silently under his breath to himself, "Perhaps it really does have something to do with that power source around his neck."

"What?" Brody asked, thinking he had heard Rush say something.

"It's nothing," Rush answered. "I was just thinking to myself. Have we regained control over Destiny's systems?"

Volker answered, "Not yet. We did manage to get back control of the countdown clock though, so I guess that's a start."

Rush turned and exited the control interface room.

"Where are you going?" Wray called after him.

Rush called back over his shoulder, "I need to check something."

Wray and Brody looked at one another.

"I get the feeling he knows something we don't," Wray said.

Brody nodded, "I get that feeling all the time."

ͼͽ

Terra made her way through the ancient maze of hallways back to her quarters. Although she had an excellent memory, and knew where she would find her quarters, every hallway and every corner looked the same, making it slightly difficult to remember exactly where to turn and which hallway to go down. She sighed. Col. Young had told her that they still did not have control over the ship, which meant that they couldn't dial the gate to New Novus. Informing her grandfather that she was okay and that she had made the decision of staying on the ship would have to come later, once control over the ships systems was reestablished.

Finally, after a few silent minutes of wandering through both empty hallways, and hallways half packed with supplies and provisions from New Novus, Terra found the laboratory where different plants and herbs had once grown. She peered into the laboratory as she passed by. One of the female scientists that Dr. Park worked with was inside, unpacking a small crate that contained different medicinal herbs and edible plants. Terra continued down the hallway. She turned right at the end of the hallway. The voices and laughter from the mess hall echoed through the hallway behind her. As she continued her way to her quarters, she couldn't help but notice the strange feeling of being watched. She knew she was alone, her instincts told her that there was no one else in this hallway with her, but she cast a wary glance over her shoulder now and then. She couldn't tell what it was, but someone or something was watching her, and her instincts were never wrong.

She reached her quarters at last. As she reached for the controls to open the door, she froze. Now her instincts were telling her that she was not alone in the little junction of hallways. Someone was in the small open room behind her on the other side of the junction. She could clearly feel their gaze on the back of her head. She whipped her head around as she quickly turned to face her stalker. But there was no one there…nothing but a vacant and unkempt bed, and a small control console, with some small round metallic spheres sitting in a groove on the console.

Every fiber in her body said that someone was watching her, something was stalking her. But she could not see her stalker. She shook her head, _"Calm down Terra. You are still getting used to life on this empty ship. It is only your imagination."_ She turned and pressed the door controls. As the door opened, she half expected there to be someone standing on the other side, staring at her. But there was no one there when the door fully opened.

Terra sighed and entered her quarters. She turned and pressed the controls to close the door. She turned and walked across the room to her bed, sighing as she lay down on the soft covers and rested her head on the pillow. Even though it was much different from the bed she was used to, it was very comfortable, maybe more so than her bed. She closed her eyes, feeling tired for the first time in her long life. In over two hundred and seventeen years of her life, Terra was exhausted, even though she may not have done much at all today. Normally, as a scientist she barely slept for more than four hours. A Petrus'iri normally slept an average of four to five hours a night, but Terra felt like she could sleep for days. Perhaps this is a result of living on a ship flying through the depths of space at incredible speeds. Sleep slowly began to creep over her.

"You may not be a human like the rest of the crew," said a female voice, "but they quickly accepted your presence among them. The fact that you are an alien to them does not seem to bother them. Intriguing."

Terra's eyes snapped open, and she sat straight up upon hearing the voice.

Sitting on the couch across from the bed, with legs crossed, was a Petrus'iri.

"Do you not find that odd?" the female Petrus'iri asked. "The last time they encountered an alien race, they were not very quick to accept the aliens."

Somehow, Terra recognized the voice, but she couldn't remember who it was.

"Well," the Petrus'iri said as she stood up, her long white robe gracefully cascading down over her legs to the floor, "I believe that human nature is a scientific mystery in itself." She walked over and admired the various scientific instruments on the desk that Terra had brought along with her. Ever so gingerly, the Petrus'iri touched one of the instruments.

Terra realized that this was who had been watching her earlier. But Terra could not understand how she had been able to conceal herself. Then Terra noticed something peculiar about the Petrus'iri; there was a strange, distinct warm white aura surrounding her.

"I am proud of you," said the Petrus'iri as she glanced sideways at Terra, "Terra'sha'ri."

Terra's eye's widened in disbelief. Suddenly, memories flooded back to her, and she remembered who it was that stood before her, "Mother?" The Petrus'iri blinked. Speaking in her native language, Terra asked again, "Jex'va?" The Petrus'iri smiled.

"Hello Terra," the Petrus'iri said. "It has been a long time since we last saw each other."

Terra nodded, still unable to believe what she was seeing. It felt surreal, seeing her mother here, in front of her after nearly a hundred and fifty years. But despite the surreal feeling, it also felt so real. Terra blinked, rubbing her eyes, and looked at the Petrus'iri that was her mother, "What is happening? How are you here? You disappeared with father a century and a half ago! You and father have been declared dead for that long!"

Terra's mother sighed, and walked over to the window, gazing out across the large brilliant band of stars that was the galaxy. She was silent for a few minutes, then spoke again, "I am sorry Terra." She turned and faced Terra, "I should have never left you. It was wrong of me to make such a rash decision."

Terra's emotions stirred for the first time since the months after her mother and father's disappearance. First it was joy, then sadness, then anger. "Left? What do you mean? Where could you have gone to? You disappeared off the face of the planet! Not a trace of you or father was left. Nothing but a few rushed notes that father made the day you disappeared."

Terra's mother shook her head, "I understand your emotions, Terra, but do not let them cloud your judgment. We left the planets surface, yes. But we did not die. I have been watching you all this time, your struggles within the scientific community, your training within the Global Bastion Forces, to your struggles with searching for a cure for the parasites. Harboring two parasites instead of just one took a great toll on your mentality, I know." She looked away, "I would have done something for you, but I was forbidden."

Terra tilted her head to the side, confused, "Forbidden? What are you saying? First of all, you still have to explain to me where you and father went to."

Her mother closed her eyes, and let out a deep sigh, "Your father and I…left the realm of mortals, to live among beings living on a higher plane of existence. To live in that realm, one is required to severe all ties with loved ones, and the mortal world. All one may do is watch over those you have left in the mortal realm."

Terra became even more confused, "Higher plane of…existence?"

Her mother returned her gaze on Terra, "We live among the people who built this ship, the people your human companions call Ancients."

Terra blinked, "Ancients?" She couldn't make sense of what her mother was saying.

Her mother looked over her shoulder for a moment at the wall behind her, like she had heard something. She returned her brilliant hazel-green gaze back to her daughter, "I am sorry Terra, but I have already said too much. I must go." She turned, and began walking towards the wall.

"Wait!" Terra exclaimed, "What about father? Why is he not here? And if you are leaving, then I beg you to take me with you!"

Her mother stopped just in front of the wall. She turned her head, "Your father went on to greater planes of existence. I have lost contact with him shortly after we both rose to the realm of the Ancients." Her eyes dropped to the floor, "I remained behind, so that I may watch over you, and protect you. I wish to take you along with me…" She turned her head back to the wall, "But your destiny is not with me. Like this ship is rightfully named…your destiny is here, on this ship and with these people. You are…destined to uncover the answers that the Ancients have searched many millennia for." She paused for a moment, and Terra could sense that her mother was shedding tears, "Good bye, Terra. You are my beloved child, my heart and soul, and no amount of words can express how proud I am of you. Go, and fulfill your destiny."

With that, Terra's mother became surrounded by a brilliant light, and Terra could feel the warmth of her mothers love radiating from the light. As the light quickly faded in a flash, Terra shouted after her mother, "Jex'va!"

She sat straight up in her bed, breathing heavily. Tears streamed down over the scales on her face. She glanced around her room. Nothing was different. It was only a dream, but a very vivid, very real dream. She placed her left hand over her right breast, feeling her heart beating rapidly beneath the soft scales.

Brilliant blue and green lights danced around the entire room. Gazing outside the window, Terra realized that they had returned to FTL.

ͼͽ

Rush shook his head, frustrated that Destiny was still locking him out of much of the systems to control the ship again. He was alone in the bridge, sitting slumped in the helm chair. _"What are you thinking?"_ he thought, directing the question not to himself, but to Destiny. _"What has changed that you feel the need to keep us out of your systems?"_

"Nothing has changed, Nicholas," said a female voice behind him.

Recognizing the voice he turned to see his wife, Gloria, leaning on the railing just behind the central command chair, "Then why are you keeping us out? Is something wrong?" He paused and then continued, "And why did you drop out of FTL?" Rush knew that it wasn't his wife, but a representation of Destiny's consciousness.

Gloria pushed herself away from the railing, and walked down the steps to stand next to the controls that surrounded the chair, "I didn't drop out of FTL by my own decision. It was that strange device the creature Thomas Addamo wears around his neck." She turned her focus to the window, "It was interfering with my systems. But now it has deactivated, so we may resume travel."

"You mean _you_ may resume travel," said Rush. Gloria rested her comforting gaze on him, but Rush was not comforted at all. "Where is it that you're taking us to? Something is obviously causing you to become defensive of your systems. Was it the recent attempt by the aliens to infect your systems?"

"No," Gloria simply answered. She smiled.

"Then what?" Rush asked again, becoming more and more frustrated. He kept calm, "Don't you think it's time you told me what is happening? It's been almost four days since you shut us out of your systems."

Gloria continued to smile, and looked away, "Terra seems to be quickly adjusting to life on a ship. She is an intriguing species, don't you think so?"

Rush closed his eyes, irritated by Destiny's attempt at avoiding answering his questions, "You haven't answered my questions. Enough with the games, tell me what is happening."

Gloria walked around the central command chair and behind Rush, "All in due time Nicholas. The mission still continues, isn't that what you want?"

Rush opened his eyes. He didn't answer. Instead, he asked one more question, "If you won't tell me what is wrong, then at least confirm my suspicions. Are they harmless?"

There was a long pause before Gloria's voice answered from somewhere behind him, "They are not hostile. They are who they say they are, and their only intensions are to return home. The one who calls himself Thomas Addamo," Gloria continued, "is very emotionally conflicted. And the one who has authority over him…she's a proud creature, but only in the military sense, not as a mother."

And then, Rush was left alone on the bridge to ponder what his next move was going to be. Destiny may have not changed the master code to all her systems, but she had locked them out of them, not accepting any commands for certain systems. Something had changed, something was obviously wrong. Destiny wouldn't just become so defensive of her systems for no reason. Rush didn't know what that reason was, but he intended to find out…somehow.

Å

End Chapter 3


	4. Wish Upon a Star  Part 1

**EDIT: 2/14/2012**

**Hello fellow SGU fans! Chapter 2, Fate & Preservation has been edited and new material has been added! Most of the content is still the same, and the story is still very much just the same. But I have reread everything, edited, added some new things here and there and replaced the original Chapter 2 with the new and improved Chapter 2! Hope you guys enjoy a better read with the improved Chapter 2! Oh, and I am removing the M Rating for this story, as I have edited out the adult content. So now, SGU fans of ALL AGES can enjoy the read!**

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><p><em>Hello fans of Stargate Universe. The name's sheesh.<em>

_This is the story of our friends onboard the Destiny, 3 years after they made the fateful FTL jump from one galaxy, to another. We follow them as their jouney continues through this new, and strange galaxy. What mysteries await them? What sort of alien species will they encounter, and wil they be hostile? And what has become of the one man we have come to know and love as the incredibly smart, Eli Wallace? Has he survived the jump? Or did the crew wake up too late? To find out the answers to these questions, read the story that could have been, the story that many of us SGU fans would love to see finished._

_This is a fan fiction that I have been working on for the last few months. Forgive me if you see mistakes here and there, as I have been a novice writer for about 6 years now. Since I learned while watching the season 2 finale that there would no longer be new episodes, I was haunted with many, many questions about where the story of the Destiny would go, and what would become of the characters we have come to love. After giving it some thought, I decided I would write my take on a season 3 of Stargate Universe. This is a fan fiction, written by a fan, for the fans. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. This is the biggest project I've ever done. Please, I only ask one thing from those of you who read it...**REVIEWS!** Again, I'm still a novice writer, and I need...would like reviews from other fans ands readers about my writings. If there is something that you did or did not like, please tell me in your review, so that I may improve upon it in future chapters. Again, **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_

**Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum**

**This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.**

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><p>92/11

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Wish Upon a Star - Part 1

Young was still unsure about Rush's decision to let Riverstone walk freely about the ship. She was after all an alien in their eyes. Young was a bit suspicious of Rush's immediate acceptance of Riverstone and her people. He was just too quick to accept them as if they were part of the crew, as if they'd been here since the crew first set foot on Destiny. He entered the control interface room, "So, what do we know?" Riverstone stood in front of a display which had the map of the galaxy and all the gates on it. Chloe and Scott stood near Volker and Dr. Park, while Wray and Brody were still trying to come up with an explanation for why one gate has remained active for almost four days.

Brody looked up, "Depends on what you want to know."

"How are we on figuring out how to send her and her people back?" Young asked, indicating to Riverstone. Riverstone swiveled an ear backwards to listen.

"Oh," said Brody, "that. Well, um…not much really."

Volker joined to conversation, "All we can guess is that the gate that's still active," he pointed to the gate on the display that was highlighted green, "just might be still active from when Gen. Riverstone dialed in from her universe."

"So her universe is probably on the other side of that gate, right?" Young asked.

"It's possible," Dr. Parks answered. She turned to face Young, "I mean, the gate data we have says that after Gen. Riverstone dialed in, and all the gates activated, that gate hasn't shut down since."

Young furrowed his eyebrows, "But I thought gates could only remain active for thirty-eight minutes, tops."

"That's true," Wray answered, "but if you have a strong enough power source, then you can keep it active for much longer."

Riverstone turned her head to look over at Wray, "But what kind of power source is capable of keeping a gate open from another universe? Specifically, from a universe that's not parallel to this one?"

Wray was about to answer, but stopped for she had no answer to give. She looked at Brody, who shrugged.

Young thought of something from Rush's earlier explanation to Riverstone, "Didn't Rush say something about their wormhole passing through a hundred or more solar flares before establishing a connection in our universe?"

Brody nodded, "Yeah, that's what he told us." He turned his head to the side as he realized something, "I think I know where you're going with this."

"What?" Wray asked.

"Well," Brody said, pausing to gather his thoughts, "I don't know how this might work, but what if all the solar flares that the wormhole passed through are what's keeping the gate open?"

The room fell silent for a moment before Dr. Park replied, "Maybe. It just might be possible."

Young and Riverstone turned their attention towards Dr. Park. "Explain," said Young.

"Wormholes are free to move through space," Dr. Park began. "Think of a snake or something like that moving through the grass." She moved her eyes off Riverstone, and focused on Young, "It has to find the path of least resistance in the grass, so it moves in a varied side-to-side motion." She glanced at Volker, who was a bit confused by where she was going with this, "A wormhole moves in a similar fashion once it's stabilized. But," she said, holding up an index finger, "if the wormhole were to pass through a solar flare, the molecules making up the walls of the wormhole become interlocked with one another, while still becoming super-charged."

"But wouldn't the molecules become spaced further apart when they become super-charged?" Volker asked.

"That's what physics says," Dr. Park answered, nodding her head, "but basic physics doesn't seem to apply with wormholes, particularly Stargate wormholes."

"So what happens when the molecules interlock?" asked Wray.

"The wormholes freedom of movement becomes restricted," Riverstone replied.

Dr. Park nodded, "Precisely. And since the wormhole passes through a solar flare, all that pent up energy in the molecules becomes immense. And when that happens, they break free from one another," she interlocked her fingers, then spread her hands apart, indicating the action of the molecules breaking free, "and the molecules are able to penetrate the space-time barrier. Which means the wormhole is sent into the past, the future, or even another universe."

Volker nodded, "I get it. So since Gen. Riverstone's wormhole passed through multiple solar flares, then the wormhole's freedom to move is restrained to almost no movement at all."

Brody chimed in, "If that's true, then it's highly likely that the wormhole is sitting in a hundred or more solar flares."

"And that would mean," Wray added, "that the wormhole has an unlimited supply of energy." She nodded, "That would explain why the gate has remained active for the past four days."

"Now the next question…" Riverstone said, locking eyes with Young.

Young knew exactly what her question was, "How long until the solar flares' burn off?" He looked around the room.

Wray and Brody shot each other worried looks. Volker shrugged, and Dr. Park shook her head.

Brody spoke, "There's no way to tell. The solar flares' are in another universe. And assuming that the physics of stars in her universe work the same as in our universe, the solar flares' could last anywhere from…a few seconds, a few days, to even a few thousand years." He shrugged, "There's no reason why the gate couldn't shut down right now."

ͼͽ

The air was stagnant, and reeked of death. There was no sun, no stars, not one ray of light…save for the light the Stargate produced.

Two figures appeared into the light of the Stargate, one tall and one short. The taller figure seemed to be holding the shorter one by the arm.

Suddenly, out in the darkness, there was a flash of light, and a high-pitched alien scream. Growls and screams began to echo through the still, black air, and lights illuminated a scene of more tall and skinny figures, firing off weapons that produced the flashes of light.

The gate suddenly deactivated, just as the tall and short figure were about to step through.

ͼͽ

No sooner had Brody finished his sentence, Volker's console beeped. All eyes turned towards Volker as he looked down and checked what the console was telling him. A few silent minutes passed by as he checked the information several times before he stopped. A worried look appeared on his face.

"Well?" Young said.

"What is it?" asked Dr. Park.

Volker struggled to keep from averting his gaze from Riverstone, and form the right words.

"Spit it out already!" Riverstone barked.

Volker flinched, but regained his composure. Finally, he was able to speak, "The gate just deactivated." Riverstone blinked, unable to register what that meant for a brief moment. Her ears dropped down sideways and her gaze dropped to the floor.

"Are you sure?" Young asked. "Check it again."

Volker checked the information again, and shook his head, "It's not active anymore."

Wray and Young looked at Brody. He seemed a bit surprised, "I shouldn't have opened my big mouth."

ͼͽ

The darkness was again illuminated, this time by a blue alien standing near the deactivated gate. The shorter figure that it held firmly by the arm was still obscured by shadows.

Lights continued to flash on and off as weapons were fired again and again. Screams echoed endlessly through the blackness.

The alien stopped next to a strange elongated device, with many crystalline panels lining it in four tiered rows. A large, white and circular button sat in the very middle of the rows of crystalline panels, and the panels had many different symbols etched into their surfaces.

The alien pointed at the device, grunting. As its gangly long fingers passed over the device, it seemed to activate, the crystalline panels illuminated in white lights. A holographic screen appeared at the top of the device, displaying the many different symbols that were etched into the crystalline panels on the sides of the screen, as well as an image of the Stargate in the middle of the screen. The alien held the illuminating device in its hand closer to the shorter figure.

The shadows obscuring the shorter figure melted away. It was Eli. He carefully looked over the different panels on the device, and suddenly he knew what it was. It was a DHD.

The screams suddenly stopped, and the silence once again returned.

The blue alien growled, turning and firing its weapon into the blackness.

Eli began frantically tapping the crystalline panels with the nine symbols he had come to know by heart. With each symbol he tapped, its representation on the holographic screen appeared large in the center of the image of the Stargate, before shrinking to a smaller size into a line of eight boxes, with one extra box spaced to the side of the eighth box, at the top of the screen. The gate lit up, and began to spin as the first symbol was locked in the box on the screen.

The alien was suddenly swept off of its feet by a shadow. It fell to the ground. Something began to drag it into the darkness. The alien tried to grab hold of something on the black ground, but the ground was smooth and slick.

Eli watched for a few seconds as the alien reached up a three-fingered hand at him, seemingly begging for help. But Eli resisted the urge to help, because it was his enemy that was in trouble. He turned, tapped the last symbol, waited a few seconds until the symbol was locked, and slammed his hand down on the large white circle in the middle of the alien DHD.

The gate activated, flooding the area immediately surrounding the DHD with light. As Eli stepped from behind the DHD, what looked like a large black tentacle-like tendril reached out of the darkness and landed on Eli's left shoulder. He was pulled backwards to the ground. He began to struggle to free himself from the grip of the black tendril as it began pulling him back towards the darkness.

ͼͽ

Volker's console beeped again. He glanced down.

"What is it this time?" Brody asked.

Volker looked up, "Someone's dialing in from the same planet.

Young turned to Scott, "Get to the gate room." He raised his radio and spoke, "We've got incoming. I want a security team in the gate room now."

Everyone in the control room hurried to the gate room. By the time they reached it, the gate had already completed half of the dialing sequence.

Young raised his voice so the marine's could hear him, "Alright, if someone comes through that gate, I don't want anyone firing unless fired upon."

Brody stood at the control panel beneath the staircase, his eyes on the gate.

Riverstone stood next to him, peering down at the screen. Her eyes widened as she recognized the address that was dialing Destiny, "Col. Your men better be ready. This is the planet that's overrun by the Petrus'iri parasite! It's assimilated massive amounts of technology, as well as Petrus'iri weapons technology! It's highly dangerous!"

The gate finished dialing, and the wormhole was established.

"Ready yourselves!" Riverstone shouted.

Scott and the marine's all aimed their weapons at the gate, preparing to see hostiles walking through, with weapons blazing…but no one walked through.

The seconds turned to minutes. Still no one walked through.

"No one's coming through," Young said. "Shut it down."

Brody did what he was told. The control panel beeped, indicating the command was unable to be performed. Brody shook his head, "No good. Wait…" He carefully looked at the information coming through the gate, Riverstone looking over his shoulder. "Oh god."

"What is it?" Wray asked.

"There's a black hole near the planet the Stargate is on," Brody answered. He returned his gaze to the gate, "If anyone dialed the gate with the black hole as close as it is…what feels like seconds for them to walk through," he glanced at Young, "could be minutes or even hours for us."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Riverstone asked.

Brody shrugged his shoulders, "We wait, I guess."

All eyes turned to the gate, and the waiting game began.

ͼͽ

Greer rounded the corner at the end of the corridor. As he got closer to the infirmary entrance, he hesitated for a moment, shaking his head once. He blinked as his eyes watered. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, "That's the richest cigar I've ever smelt from a distance." Varro, who stood guard near the infirmary entrance, craned his neck around to peer over at Greer. "That ain't you, is it?" Greer asked as he briefly pointed at Varro. He entered the infirmary.

Varro shook his head, "No. What's a cigar?"

Greer stopped next to Varro, holding up a hand to his mouth, pretending to hold a cigar between his index and middle finger, "It's a long thing filled with this kind of plant. Ya light the end of it, and take a nice long drag on it." Greer glanced at Varro, who was giving him a strange look. Greer waved it off, "Ah, you won't understand."

"If you're talking about a cigarette," Varro said pointing at Addamo, "then it's Col. Addamo that's smoking right now."

Greer raised an eyebrow, "Col…who?" He looked over at Addamo, who was sitting up on the bed, his legs bent up so that he may rest his elbows on his knees. He cradled a thin white cigarette in his left hand, "That thing? A colonel?"

Varro nodded, "Even though their civilization is far more advanced and different than yours, their military system is the same as yours."

Greer studied Addamo for a moment before leaning closer and whispering to Varro, "Does it-"

Varro knew the question before Greer even finished, "Yes, _he_ can speak English. He is from Earth, you know."

Greer nodded, "Right, I knew that." He shook his head, still unable to believe that in Addamo's universe, Greer was one of Addamo's species. Greer noticed the patches on the right shoulder of his jacket. He not only had the Icarus Base patch, but also the Atlantis patch and the SGC patch. The cigarette smoke filled Greer's lungs again, "If his universe is anything like ours, and they're just as far away from home as we are…then how the hell did he manage to find a pack of cigarettes all the way on the other side of his universe?"

Varro shrugged, unsure of what to say to Greer.

Addamo raised his left hand up to his lips, and dragged on the long, thin cigarette. A long trail of white smoke shot out of his nostril openings near the tip of his snout as he exhaled. He finally took notice of Greer, "So, you must be Sgt. Greer." His voice was rough, but not very rough, indicating that he hadn't been smoking very long.

Greer shot Varro a quick glance, but he was busy admiring TJ as she worked on her tablet. Greer looked back at Addamo, "Yeah, how'd ya know?"

Addamo chuckled, "You have his posture."

"Right," Greer said nodding.

"And his attitude," Addamo added. He could tell that Greer was trying to humor him. "I know you don't trust me, Sgt. But I'm not your enemy." He looked ahead of him at a wall, and his expression saddened, "I'm just a fool…stranded in another universe…even further from home than I was back in my universe."

Greer sensed the honesty and feeling of helplessness in Addamo's last statement, but still held onto his suspicion of Addamo and his people. He turned to Varro, and relieved him of his guard duty.

Varro glanced over at TJ, who also glanced back at him. He didn't want to leave, but he knew that it was Young's orders, so he left the infirmary.

He eventually wandered back to his quarters. He closed the door behind him, and sat down on the couch. He buried his face into his hands, exhausted. He rubbed his eyes, then noticed the book he had been reading the other day resting on the table in front of the couch. He picked it up, and flipped to the page that he had left off on. The story was a legend told among the Lucian Alliance of three terribly powerful creatures that were encountered once, long before the Lucian Alliance was formed. Known as the Three Kora, they were of an ancient race of alien species that the Goa'uld had used as hosts before humans. The Three Kora were believed to have been hosts themselves to the very first Goa'uld symbiotes' to come into existence, the queen being the first, and the leader of the Three. The sixteen pre-Lucians that had encountered them, fearing them for their appearance, attacked the Three Kora, intending to erase the abominations.

But the Three Kora were too powerful for the group to handle, and they were eliminated. It was said that just before the last pre-Lucian was killed, the Goa'uld queen uttered a curse on the pre-Lucians descendants'. Every hundred years, the Three Kora would awaken, and kill many family members of all those in the pre-Lucian group. And every member of the group, happened to be the ancestors of many Lucians today.

Suddenly, it hit him. Varro slammed the book shut, and rushed out of his quarters, still holding the book. He knew why the Lucians were storming the SGC.

ͼͽ

Mitchell and Sheppard sat crouched behind a wall of sandbags. Both had their weapons pointed down an empty corridor. They could hear the Lucian troops exchanging strategies with one another just around the corner. A day had gone by since Destiny was dialed from off-world. Mitchell sighed, rubbing his eyes with one hand, "It's been five days, and there's still so many of these bastards."

Sheppard peered over his shoulder quickly as he heard Ronin grunt in pain, "Yeah. And our holding cells are filling up…and I don't know how many more bullets the Lucians can put into Ronin before they run out of ammo." Sheppard smirk as Ronin gave him a serious look, "He's starting to look like a pin cushion with all those bullet holes."

Mitchell also glanced over his shoulder as Sheppard returned his focus down the corridor, "Yeah, I was going to ask you. How many times can you shoot him before he starts screamin' 'bloody murder'?"

Sheppard chuckled, "Don't know. Haven't tried, but I doubt he would even say that."

Sam's voice crackled over Mitchell's radio, "Mitchell, how's it looking up there?"

Mitchell reached for the radio strapped to his chest, "Well, it's lookin' like a stalemate right now. How's it goin' with getting info out of the ones we got?"

"Nothing so far," Sam's voice answered over the radio, "but the strange thing is…they all seem to be scared to death of something."

Sheppard and Mitchell glanced at one another. "Scared to death?" Sheppard asked.

"What do ya mean, 'scared to death of something'?" asked Mitchell.

"I don't know how to describe it," Sam's voice replied, "but they just…all have fear written all over their faces. Some of them are even screaming to save them by letting them go to Destiny."

Mitchell paused for a moment, "'Save them'?" He shot a quick look down the corridor as a Lucian peered at them from behind the corner, then quickly drew his head back, "I thought they wanted to go to Destiny because of that funky legend they have about unlocking all nine chevrons."

"That's what their original goal was," Sam answered, "but that seems to have changed. They're all seem to be saying that they want out of this galaxy. They all look like they're prey being chased by an invisible predator." There was a brief moment of static crackling over the radio as there was a pause. Then Sam spoke again, "Hold on Cam. Destiny just contacted us."

ͼͽ

Jack looked quizzically at Col. David Telford and the marine standing next to him, "So, you're saying that…they're attacking us, and trying to kill all of us…just so they can get to that rust bucket of a ship out there?"

Telford nodded, "Yes."

Jack shot a look at the marine, who also nodded, "It seems to add up, General. I read the book before we came here."

Jack glanced at Sam questioningly, "Carter?"

Sam shrugged, "I guess. From the way Varro described it, it sounds like these Three Kora are…Unas. But is it true that they're hosts' to the very first Goa'uld?"

Varro nodded again, "Yes ma'am. The legend even states that the queen's name means, 'Mother Goa'uld'."

Teal'c had been staring at Varro, unable to believe what he was hearing. He spoke, "He speaks the truth, O'Neill." Jack turned his head towards Teal'c. "Is the name spoken of in the legend, 'Oma Ki'goa'uld'?"

Varro met eyes with Teal'c, "It is. You've heard the legend also?"

Teal'c slowly nodded, "I have."

Varro looked back at Jack, "General, these people who are attacking, aren't doing it to gain possible access to Destiny. They're trying to get away from a curse that was placed on them centuries ago."

Jack tilted his head to one side, "Well, they're killing my people just trying to get away from it. So, I'm not going to let them have what they want."

Varro nodded, "I understand. I wasn't defending them. I just want you to know that all they want is freedom from their fates. Countless numbers of our ancestors and people have been murdered by the Three Kora. Now that they all know about the existence of Destiny, and the possibility of unlocking the ninth chevron, they want to start their lives over again…in another galaxy."

Jack sighed, rocking back and forth on his feet, "I know what you mean. But I can't let that happen. They may want to start their lives over again, but killing just to escape fate isn't exactly just. Understood?"

Varro nodded, and averted his gaze to the floor, "Understood." He looked up at Jack again, "There's just one more thing, General."

Jack crossed his arms over his chest, listening intently.

"I think I may know of a way to stop them," Varro continued.

ͼͽ

Ronin grunted as he stood up. Every inch of his arms, legs, and torso was covered in bloody bandages. His clothes were dotted with holes and soaked with blood. He limped over to Mitchell and Sheppard, "How long before you think they make their next move?" Mitchell and Sheppard both looked up at him from their positions. Mitchell shrugged, and Sheppard shook his head. "I'm getting tired of waiting," Ronin said bluntly. He pulled his weapon from its holster, and made to step over the wall of sandbags, but Sheppard stopped him, pulling him back.

"I don't think so, Chewy," Sheppard said. "You've already got enough metal in you. I think you should take a break."

"I've been taking a break for eight hours," Ronin snapped. "If they're not going to make a move, then I will."

"No, you're not," Sheppard said, stopping Ronin again with a hand on his chest. "You're gonna go back to Dr. Lam, and have her fix you with new bandages." Ronin began to protest angrily, but Sheppard interrupted him, "That's an order!"

Ronin glared at Sheppard, then turned around angrily and limped back down the corridor.

Sheppard smirked and shook his head. He returned to his position behind the wall of sandbags next to Mitchell, "Man, it's next to impossible keeping him on a tight leash." He shot a quick glance a Mitchell, "But at least he's house broken…I think."

Mitchell laughed at Sheppard's comment, "Hey, at least you can control him. He doesn't listen to anyone else, does he?"

Sheppard shrugged, "Not really…except the docs that have to patch him up every now and then." Sheppard's attention was averted to the sound of movement from the corner, "Sounds like they're making a move."

"Here we go again," Mitchell said as a small group of Lucians rounded the corner, guns blazing.

ͼͽ

"I'll do it," said Sam. Jack looked at her, about to retort but she stopped him, "Sir, if she was able to stop them in their universe, then I think it's the best option. She doesn't exist in our universe, but she's here now." She glanced at Varro, "Might as well take advantage of it."

Jack sat down at his desk and let out a deep tired sigh, "Well, I guess there's really no other option, is there?"

"It would seem so," Teal'c answered. He turned his attention to Varro, "Did she speak of how she defeated the Lucian Alliance?"

Varro glanced at Young, who shrugged, "I don't think she did. All she said was that she switched bodies with Col. Carter, and went on to defeat them."

Young turned to Varro, "But is it really a good idea?" He faced Sam, "Their anatomy is different than ours. It's even different on the neural scale, as Rush put it."

Varro added to Young's concern, "Col. Addamo did say that their field of vision is similar to…that of a horse."

"Oh," Sam said. She was silent for a few seconds before speaking again, "Well, so what? I'll manage to learn how to be a…" She looked at Young, "What did you say they were called?"

"They call their species Viterosaur's," Young answered.

"So…" Jack said, twirling a pen between his fingers, "they're…dinosaurs?"

Young paused, and shrugged, "I guess so. He said his species first descended from the _Eodromaeus_ raptor…two hundred thirty million years ago."

This shocked Sam, "Two hundred thirty million years ago? That would mean that they are a highly advanced race."

"Far more advanced than their Ancients perhaps," Teal'c added.

"Col. Addamo did suggest that," Varro stated.

"Alright," Jack said, standing up from his desk and walking over to the window that faced the conference room above the gate room. A layer of dust sat on the surface of the table, which Jack swept away with a swish of his hand, "They're talking dinosaurs." He paused for a moment as a group of marines rushed up the spiral staircase. "Are you sure you want to do this, Carter?" asked Jack as he turned to face Sam. "You don't know what kind of damage it'll do to you psycho…whatever you call it."

"Mentality?" Sam suggested.

"Even better," Jack replied, his lips spreading into a mock smile for a moment.

Sam thought about her answer for a brief moment, biting her upper lip. She nodded, "Yes sir. I'm sure. If she's done it before, then she'll have no problem doing it again. It'll be an advantage for us."

Jack nodded, and looked down at his feet, "Alright. If you want to do it, then let's make it happen." He looked up, "You've got a go, Col. Bring her in."

Young nodded. He thought of something, and looked directly at Jack, "General, there's something I need to ask you."

"I'm listening," Jack said.

"Someone dialed Destiny from a planet with a black hole in its solar system," said Young.

Jack shot a look at Sam, who did the same, "Oh boy. How long ago?"

"Yesterday," Young answered. "No one's come through since. What should we do?"

"Well…" said Jack, "I think Carter is the person to ask."

"Has the event horizon started spinning like a whirlpool?" asked Sam.

Young shook his head, "No."

Sam sighed, "Good. Then you're just going to have to wait until whoever dialed in to walk through. The gate won't shut down until all the matter that entered through on the dialing end rematerializes on the receiving end. Just hope that it won't take another day for that to happen."

ͼͽ

McKay sat inside a hidden lab that was recently discovered in a section of Atlantis that had been inaccessible until only a year ago. Dr. Radek Zelenka was there with him, inspecting a data console that was apparently damaged. McKay was at a small glass table that had what looked like a central control hub in the center of it, starting from the floor, and extending up to the ceiling. His laptop sat on the glass table as McKay poked and inspected the central hub, using the pen attached to the tablet he cradled. Zelenka shook his head and cursed in Czech. He turned to McKay, "It's no use Rodney. It looks like the damage to the device is worse than it looks, probably internal." He raised his arms up, indicating he didn't know what to do, "For all we know, the lab just could have been used to store failed experiments. Look at the rest of the devices. None of them are functioning either."

McKay didn't turn to Zelenka as he spoke, "Except this one." He touched a small crystal in a rotating dial a few inches above where the glass attached to the central hub lightly, and the crystal lit up. McKay smiled, and Zelenka stepped closer as the central hub lit up from crystals that lined the corners and edges. McKay touched the crystal with the pen again, and rotated it counter-clockwise. No sooner had he completed turning it three hundred and sixty degrees, long vertical slots popped up all over the central hub in intervals of five inches. McKay paused to glance down at the readings on the laptop, but nothing had changed. He pressed harder on the crystal dial, and the whole dial sank slightly into its socket.

There was a click, but nothing happened.

McKay stood upright, a bit disappointed and confused, "Huh."

"That's it?" Zelenka asked. He waited for a few more seconds, but still nothing happened. "That wasn't very exciting."

Then, out of the slots, large, flat and rectangular shaped crystals emerged. McKay turned to Zelenka, "You were saying?" He returned his attention back to the crystals. He reached up to remove on of the hundreds of crystals, but stopped just as the floor beneath him began to shift. Zelenka grabbed McKay as he looked down to see what was happening, and quickly pulled him away and towards the doorway. "What the hell is going on?" McKay asked, almost shouting. Zelenka didn't respond. His jaw dropped, watching in amazement as the devices lining the walls disappeared into hidden compartments in the walls, which closed when they were fully inside. The paneling of the floor and ceiling began to separate, and pull backwards into slots in the walls. The central hub was left standing in a large hole beneath where the floor used to be, and then it began to slowly rotate counter-clockwise.

Still flabbergasted, McKay and Zelenka stepped closer to the edge of the hole that had just appeared and peered down. The hole extended quite a distance downwards and upwards, likely taking up at least thirty or forty floors of the tower. Lights and consoles lined the walls of the cylindrical hole everywhere. A platform extended out a few feet from directly beneath the doorway, as well as a staircase on the right, going up, and on the left, going down, along the whole circumference of the hole. McKay and Zelenka slowly looked at one another, astonishment as well as excitement written on both their faces. They looked back towards the whole, the central cub still rotating ever so slowly. McKay's laptop still sat on the glass extension they ha assumed was a table, going along for the ride as the central hub rotated.

"How could we have missed this?" McKay asked, his voice shaking a little.

Zelenka shook his head side-to-side while still looking ahead of him a the newly exposed space, his jaw still hanging from amazement.

McKay swallowed, "I think we're going to need all hands on deck for this one."

Zelenka nodded silently, still unable to answer McKay.

McKay tapped his radio earpiece, "Mr. Woolsey, this is Dr. McKay…I-I think you and Dr. Jackson are going to want to see this."

ͼͽ

"And it just…opened up into this after you activated it?" Woolsey asked, looking up in awe of the sheer size of the room. As his eyes traveled up the central hub, he noticed the bottom of McKay's laptop on the glass extension as it came around from behind the column. McKay and Zelenka nodded.

"But what is this place?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses higher up his nose as he leaned closer to a console. They were on a platform below the doorway into the false lab. At the end of the platform where it ended six feet from the rotating central hub, a guardrail provided protection from falling down the hole. There were about seven similar platforms below the one they stood on, and seven more above the platform directly above the door.

McKay and Zelenka both shrugged. "Who knows," McKay answered.

"We won't know until we access the consoles here," Zelenka added.

"It might be some kind of Ancient archive of some kind," McKay continued.

"Or," Zelenka added, looking over his shoulder at the slowly rotating central hub, "it could possibly be an engine of some sort." He shrugged, unsure with what he just suggested.

McKay rolled his eyes, "An engine? How does this look like an engine room to you?"

"Rodney," Zelenka responded, "this entire building is located over the southern part of the star drive!"

"So?" McKay snorted. "How's that got anything to do with this being an engine?"

"Actually," Daniel said, holding up a finger to stop McKay there while still leaning closer to the console he was studying, "I think Dr. Zelenka's right."

"He is?" asked McKay, a bit surprised by Daniel's statement.

"I am?" Zelenka asked as well, also surprised. He shook his head, "I mean, I am." He grinned at McKay.

Woolsey turned his attention to the small console Daniel was gazing intently at, "What is, Dr. Jackson?"

McKay stepped over beside Daniel to peer down at the console as well. "From what I'm reading here," Daniel replied, "it looks like this whole structure in the middle…" He turned and looked up at the rotating central hub, "Was built based off of Destiny's FTL drive. This is one of the engine's Atlantis uses for a wormhole drive jump."

McKay's eyes widened, "Now that you mention it…the consoles all over this room look similar to the ones on Destiny."

Woolsey turned to McKay, "Are you sure, Dr.?"

McKay nodded, "I'm positive."

Daniel turned to McKay, "I think you just found our answer of bringing Destiny home."

Zelenka frowned. "What about me?" he said quietly.

This peaked Woolsey's interest, "Are you suggesting that we can possibly help bring Destiny back with this?"

Daniel shook his head, "No, not with this. I'm saying we can help them jury-rig their FTL drive engines…" He turned and pointed to the wormhole drive engine, "Into this."

All heads turned towards the drive engine. No one spoke for a few moments. Then Zelenka broke the silence, "But, how are we going to accomplish that? They are on the other side of the universe, hundreds of billions of light-years away from the necessary technology to turn their FTL drive into a wormhole drive."

"Ah," Daniel said stopping Zelenka by holding up a finger, "Not turn their FTL engines, but rig them and substitute parts in, until they're capabilities are similar to what we have here."

"Brilliant," McKay said. "The Ancients made these engines based off of Destiny's FTL drive. Now, we're using these engines to give Destiny's FTL an upgrade."

"Would the enhancements be permanent?" Woolsey asked, looking from Daniel to McKay.

McKay shrugged, "It'll probably only work for one jump, and they'd be lucky if a second jump is possible. After that, Destiny would probably restore the engines back to FTL capability."

"Or," Zelenka said, a worried look appearing on his face, "it could possibly cause the engines to malfunction or to fry, leaving them stranded in deep space with no means of travel, or…" His voice trailed off.

Woolsey knew what he was going to say, as he had already had this possible scenario proposed to him, "Or it could vaporize them the moment they attempt to make the jump." He exhaled, "It's risky, just to bring them back home."

"But a big risk that I think they would be willing to take," Daniel responded.

Woolsey nodded, "Agreed. Contact Gen. O'Neill. Tell him of our discovery and possible solution. I'm sure he'd like to hear about it."

ͼͽ

"You ready?" Jack asked Sam. They were in the room housing the communications stones. "You don't have to do this, Sam. We can have someone else do this instead."

Sam glanced up at Jack. He hardly ever called her by her first name, only when he was concerned for her. She smiled nervously and nodded, "No, I'm ready. I can do this, I want to do this."

The marine sitting behind the laptop nodded to Sam when she looked at him, "You're clear to go, Col."

Sam exhaled deeply, her nervousness mounting. "Alright," she said, "here goes nothing." She closed her eyes as she placed the stone on the pad. She felt the sensation of her mind disconnecting with her body…and then she opened her eyes again.

Everyone in the room fell silent as Sam slowly removed her hand from the stone, not saying a word.

Mitchell mustered the courage to say something, "Sam?"

She lifted up a hand, and studied it intently, turning it this way and that, clenching it into a fist. Finally, she spoke, "So…this is what it's like to have great depth perception…and five fingers."

_"Looks like it worked,"_ Jack thought to himself. "And you are…?"

Sam turned to face Jack. A serious look in her eye told him that it definitely wasn't Sam Carter controlling her own body anymore. "General Shandra Riverstone." She paused, studying Jack's face for a moment before speaking again, "But you can call me Shandy, Jack."

It both did and didn't surprise Jack that Riverstone knew his name, "So, you know my name…Shandy…" He shot Teal'c a quizzical look, who raised an eyebrow.

"You are indeed not of this universe?" Teal'c asked.

Riverstone nodded, "That's what all the nerds have been telling me back on the ship. Have you ever heard my name before?"

"That I have not," Teal'c answered, averting his gaze away from Riverstone, satisfied with her answer.

"They are nerds, aren't they?" Jack asked, glad that he wasn't alone in that opinion. He turned to Mitchell, "Col, tell everyone our guest has arrived."

Mitchell nodded, and quickly left the communications room.

Riverstone nodded her head. Then her expression turned even more serious, "Right, what's the situation? Have you found out any reason for why the Lucians are attacking?"

"Actually," Jack replied, "We were hoping you could first tell us why your SGC was attacked."

Riverstone shrugged, standing up from the chair, "Well, all we could determine was that some young and rebellious soldier killed the head of Lucian operations on Earth." Teal'c, Jack and Riverstone exited the communications room, and began heading towards the gate room. "After assuming command of operations, he wanted to gain control of the SGC for its database of Stargate addresses, and Icarus-type planets."

"He wished to go to Destiny?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah," Riverstone answered. "He was desperate to unlock the ninth chevron. His goal was to use the power he had heard of from the legend…and restore the Lucian Alliance to its former glory."

"And what former glory would that be?" Jack asked.

"A power to be reckoned with in the Milky Way," Riverstone answered.

"Hang on," Jack said, stopping at the bottom of the stairs that lead up into the gate control room, "the Lucian Alliance in your universe was powerful?"

"Yes," Riverstone said as she nodded her head. "Why? What's the story for this attack?"

"In this universe," Teal'c answered, "The Lucian Alliance is a minor group of criminals with the intent of controlling people on worlds they control, having them adhere to Lucian customs and laws. They are not a significant enemy now, but they pose as a large threat to the safety of the people onboard the Destiny."

"Yeah," said Jack, "what Teal'c said. They're attacking us because some…Goa'uld…god-thing or queen or whatever, is coming to kill them because…because…" He tried to remember what Varro had said less than an hour ago, but couldn't, "What did he say, Teal'c?"

"Varro stated that the very first Goa'uld to come into existence," Teal'c stated, finishing what Jack couldn't remember, "Oma Ki'goa'uld, is coming to maintain a curse that she laid upon the ancestors of the Lucian Alliance. Every one hundred years, she and two of the first Goa'uld she gave birth to, hunt down the descendants of the Lucian ancestors that encountered them." Teal'c paused, trying hard not to let his emotions run high at the knowledge that there were still Goa'uld breathing in the galaxy. "A fair number of Lucians today are descendants of those ancestors. Now, they wish to escape their curse, flee to the Destiny, and rebuild their lives once more in another galaxy in the far reaches of the universe…far away from their curse."

Riverstone was silent, as this story of the Lucian was far from being comparable to the reason why the Lucians attacked the SGC in her universe. She could hear shouting and yelling echoing down from the hallway on the left, "You have prisoners?"

Jack nodded, "About forty…and still counting. But the Lucians aren't taking any prisoners. They're killing even the wounded."

Riverstone turned her head in the direction the shouting was coming from, "In my universe…Jack would never allow such actions go without punishment."

Jack thought about her statement for a moment before answering, "Well, that's because he's not what I am in your universe…we humans are…considerate creatures, right Teal'c?"

Teal'c did not answer, but raised an eyebrow, unsure of how to answer him.

"Right," said Jack.

Someone yelled in pain from above the control room. Teal'c, Riverstone and Jack made their way up the spiral staircase into the briefing room. Ronin lay on the edge of the table, facing the staircase. Dr. Carolyn Lam was removing yet another Lucian bullet from Ronin's buttocks. "I don't think I've ever had a patient with this many gunshot wounds before."

"Dr. Lam?" Jack said when he saw them. He held up his hands when she looked up at him, "What are you doing?"

Dr. Lam was a bit confused by his question for a moment, before she remembered where she was, "Oh, well, the cells are already at max capacity, so Col. Sheppard needed the beds in the infirmary to restrain new prisoners. They were the more violent ones."

"Ah, I see," Jack replied. Ronin grimaced in pain as Dr. Lam finally removed the projectile, which Jack found amusing, "How many times can you get shot before you get it in your head that maybe you need to take cover?"

"Until they're all dead," Ronin answered.

Riverstone smirked at his response, "Typical Ronin answer. They've got the same attitude."

Ronin glared at Riverstone, but he didn't realize that it wasn't Sam, "They're the enemy, Col. If we're going to eliminate the threat, we need to defend ourselves and this base."

Teal'c spoke sternly, "Col. Carter is not with us for the moment, Ronin Dex."

"Then who the hell is she?" Ronin asked with a growl, becoming suspicious.

"This," Jack responded as he stepped forward and introduced Riverstone to Ronin, "is Gen. Shandra Riverstone."

Ronin blinked, then grimaced as Dr. Lam dabbed a swab with disinfectant onto his wound, "Why's there another general here? I didn't know there were two generals in command here."

"That's because there aren't," Riverstone replied. "Actually, I'm not supposed to be here, if it weren't for a twist of fate."

"What?" asked Ronin, confused.

"Gen. Riverstone is of another universe," Teal'c answered. "She is of a universe…unlike ours, yet still similar to ours."

"I'm not human, Ronin," Riverstone added. "In my universe, your species doesn't exist. My species takes the place of your species."

"So then I'm-?" Ronin started to ask but was interrupted by Jack.

"Yes," Jack said, "you're one of her species in her universe." He clapped his hands together, "Now, I think that's enough of the chit-chat. Let's get down to business, shall we?" He glanced at Riverstone, "General, what are your orders?"

ͼͽ

Sam stumbled forward as Scott and Greer escorted her to the infirmary. Greer caught her, stopping her fall.

"No offense Col.," Greer said, "but you sure are clumsy."

Sam stood up straight again, "None taken. It's just…weird, being in this body. I mean, a reptile with fur?" She resumed walking again, carefully placing her now clawed and awkward feet in front of one another.

"I can only imagine," Greer said. He glanced down, seeing her long tail as it randomly twitched this way and that, "What's it like having a tail, though?"

Sam stumbled again, but quickly regained her balance, "To be honest, I can't really feel it. I know it's there, but…I don't know how to control it. Where are we going, by the way?"

Scott answered over his shoulder, "The infirmary. We've got someone who can probably help you adjust to Gen. Riverstone's body."

"Man," said Sam, "and I thought I didn't need anymore schooling."

Greer smiled, but refrained from saying anything else. They reached the infirmary after a few minutes of walking through the hallways, which Sam still couldn't understand how they navigated through them. Varro passed by the doorway, carrying a stack of clear plastic boxes with medical supplies in them. Addamo still sat in his bed, watching as TJ shined a flashlight into the eyes of one of the other Viterosaurs.

"Well," said TJ, "you're still in one piece." She turned the flashlight off, and sighed, "You know, it's amazing. Even though you're not human, I can tell that you're exactly like him."

"Why's that?" asked the Viterosaur as he blinked his brown eyes, his voice sounding much younger than Addamo's. "Is it because of my voice?"

TJ shook her head, "No. It's your eyes. Not just because they're the same color, but you've got the same look in your eyes that our Eli does. Caring, smart and brave."

The young Viterosaur smiled, looking down at his hands as he fiddled with his fingers, "Thanks. Ginn's the only one that ever says that about me." He sighed, seeming to struggle with what he wanted to say, "You know, I have to be honest. It's just weird…hearing someone's voice I'm familiar with…but-"

TJ finished his sentence, "Seeing someone else's face instead." She nodded, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"But think of it this way Eli," Addamo spoke up. "At least you know you're among the same people, among friends…even though technically…they're not our friends."

Greer couldn't help but ask, pointing at the Viterosaur Addamo called Eli, "So, you're Eli?"

Vitero-Eli turned his attention to Greer, a bit surprised to see that three more people had entered the infirmary, "Greer?"

"Yeah boy," Greer said, "believe it or not, it's me."

Vitero-Eli shook his head, "Man, never thought that my days spent playing Halo would take me to another universe."

Scott and Greer both smirked as they remembered Eli saying something similar.

Addamo saw someone else standing with them and it wasn't Riverstone. It was another human, "I take it you're the one that switched bodies with the General?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah. I'm Col. Sam Carter." She paused, "Wait, how'd you know?"

Addamo chuckled, "Believe me, Col. I don't see the body of Gen. Riverstone standing there. I see you as you are in your normal body standing there."

"Really?" Sam asked, a bit intrigued by this, "How can you see me when my body is all the way over on Earth?"

Addamo shook his head, "It's really hard to explain."

Vitero-Eli was puzzled, "Wait…the General went back to Earth? Why?"

"To help our people stop the Lucian attack on the SGC," Scott answered.

"But…" Vitero-Eli was utterly confused, "That was three-"

Addamo interrupted him, "Our universe is three weeks ahead of this one, Eli. Here, the Lucian attack on the SGC started five days ago. Destiny only revived the crew about a week or two ago in this universe."

"I've been thinking about that," TJ said. "If that's true, your universe being ahead of ours…then that raises the question of which universe is the first."

"I was wondering that myself," Addamo asked.

"I know!" Vitero-Eli said, jumping off of his bed. His claws scrapped the floor as he strode over the still frozen Viterosaur that Riverstone had said was an android. "Tarvock can tell us. Col, I need your help getting him on the bed."

Addamo slide off his bed and walked over to Vitero-Eli. They carefully hoisted the android and shuffled over to the bed Vitero-Eli had been sitting on just before. They tilted it over and rested the android in a lying position on the bed. "You think you can fix him?" Addamo asked.

Vitero-Eli snorted, "You kidding me? I'm the one that built him…or…the other me did two thousand years ago."

Sam carefully made her way over to them as Vitero-Eli leaned over the android. She watched as Eli's alternate applied pressure on a spot just below the artificial Viterosaur's lower jaw. An entire section of the androids neck running from below the lower jaw down to just above its collar bone, raised up, the fur on the panel separating from the rest of the fur. Sam watched in amazement as Vitero-Eli carefully lifted the furred panel off, exposing a network of different sized wires that glowed with red luminescence.

TJ, Scott and Greer also joined Sam beside the bed to watch as Vitero-Eli reached a clawed finger in among the wires.

"What does it…" Sam stopped herself, "what power source does he use? And what is he built from?"

Vitero-Eli shrugged as he continued digging around in the network of wires with his finger, "The first…me built him using next to non-functional parts salvaged from Destiny Two." He glanced down as the androids right hand closed into a fist. "It wasn't exactly possible for the first crew to fix Destiny to full potential, but they managed to restore the sub-light engines and moved it away from the star. But after they reached the planet that orbited the star, those died and they had to abandon the ship." The androids eyes closed, "The first me made regular trips over the next fifty years, salvaging parts to build Tarvock. But he isn't exactly all machine." Vitero-Eli dug his whole hand into the network of red luminescent wires, "He's also part Viterosaur. He's got blood and organs, everything that makes us what we are. Only his skin, skeletal and muscular structures, and his brain are mechanical."

"So, he's a bio-android? He's a living being?" asked Sam.

Vitero-Eli nodded, "Yeah, something like that. But in order for him to be alive, he needs an unlimited power source, which happens to be a small fragment of Col. Addamo's star heart crystal."

Sam glanced at Addamo, "Star heart crystal?"

"The heart of a star," Addamo answered. "The crystal itself is a crystalline parasite, and it's in every star in the universe…except neutron stars. It's an unlimited power source." He held up the three inch long, octahedron blue crystal, "Only two in the universe. This one, and the one the first me wore. Though, in order to survive outside the center of a star it requires a host, meaning me." He placed a hand on his chest. "In exchange for providing it protection and a minute amount of my energy, it grants me any power I wish for."

"Where did you find it?" Sam asked, very much interested in learning more. She turned her head to look at the android as its jaws snapped close with force.

"Well, actually Gen. O'Neill found it," Addamo answered, "when he had the knowledge of the Ancients downloaded to his brain. After he activated the pedestal on that planet covered by volcanoes, a secret Ancient lab opened up behind the pedestal. This thing was in there. It attached itself immediately as soon as I touched it. Been wearin' it since."

Sam was silent. She thought back to the day when they made the daring journey to the planet full of volcanic activity after Jack uncovered its location. She remembered when Jack sat in the chair, and revealed the location of the Ancient weapons platform in Antarctica. But she didn't remember any secret Ancient lab opening up behind the pedestal after Jack activated it. Then she remembered what Rush had told her about the Viterosaurs' universe. _"Similar to ours in many ways,"_ she thought to herself, _"yet very different than ours in many ways. That would mean that some events that happened in their universe, might not have happened in ours."_

"I think," Vitero-Eli said, "I…got it." He pulled his hand out of the network of wires in the androids neck, and carefully replaced the furred panel back over the circuitry.

No sooner had the panel lowered into place and sealed shut seamlessly, the androids yellow eyes snapped open. It remained still, staring straight ahead at the sealing.

Vitero-Eli stood up straight and cleared his throat, "Tarvock, commence systems reboot. Verification code is; Gamma, Infinitas, Nu, Novum. Authentication is Eli Wallace."

The android Tarvock spoke in a very deep, gravelly and serious voice, "Verification code and authentication accepted. Commencing systems reboot." A few silent seconds passed as everyone held their breath, waiting to see what Tarvock will do. "Systems reboot complete. All systems have been restored. Awaiting orders."

Vitero-Eli raised his voice as he shouted, "Breathe Tarvock!"

Tarvock gasped loudly as he inhaled deeply. He sat straight up as each breath he took induced a coughing spasm.

"Incredible," Sam said, amazed that this android was actually breathing and coughing. It astounded her that Tarvock had a mechanical brain that was performing the same tasks a normal brain performed to sustain the body.

No sooner had Sam spoken, Tarvock snapped his head up and studied Sam carefully, "You're not Gen. Shandra Riverstone. Who are you?"

"Relax Tarvock," Addamo said, "it's Col. Carter."

Tarvock moved his stunning yellow eyes from Sam to TJ, then Greer, then Scott. "Who are all these other aliens, Col.?"

Vitero-Eli answered him, "Long story short, Tarvock…we're in another universe." He pointed at TJ, "That's TJ," then pointed at Greer and Scott, "that's Greer and that's Matt."

Tarvock was silent as he scrutinized every human face in the infirmary, "I was wondering why I couldn't sense Destiny Two. Seems it's the likeliest explanation for why I do not recognize these strange faces, yet recognize the order of proteins in their DNA structure."

"Wait, hold on a moment," Greer said holding up a hand. "You're saying that even though this is another universe, we have the same DNA as you people?"

Tarvock shook his head, "Not necessarily, Sgt. Your species is mammalian. We are reptilian. Our DNA is different than yours…but the order of the proteins in your DNA matches the order of proteins of Sgt. Greer in our universe." He paused a moment before continuing, "Quite intriguing once you think about it."

Greer smiled, and spoke under his breath, "Great, I'm related to a two-legged lizard."

"Only in the technical sense," Tarvock replied. "You see-"

Addamo interrupted the android, "Alright, I think that's enough nerd-talk for now." Tarvock turned his head towards Addamo, "We've got other things to address at the moment."

Brody's voice spoke from the radio on Scott's vest, "Lt. Scott, this is Brody, come in."

"Go ahead," Scott said speaking into his radio.

"We've got an inbound traveler coming through the gate," Brody's voice replied.

"We're on out way," Scott responded. He turned to TJ, "TJ, bring your med kit." He glanced at Greer, who nodded, and they both quickly left the infirmary.

Vitero-Eli shook his head in disappointment, "And they leave just like that. That's just like them."

"It seems that those in our universe who have a counterpart in this universe," Tarvock said gazing at the infirmary entrance, "are indeed identical in many aspects."

"TJ," Addamo said, "I know this isn't your call, but may Tarvock and I come with you?"

TJ considered his request for a moment, then nodded, "Alright. Let me get my med kit." Addamo thanked her as she turned and headed over to the medical cabinets near her work table. She passed by Varro, who had just finished stacking the plastic crates TJ had him help her with, "Varro, I want you to come too. Just to be on the safe side." Varro nodded.

Addamo turned to Sam, "You seem to be adjusting to using an alien body quite well, Col."

Sam shrugged, "It's a bit tough, but I think I can manage. The hard part about it is vision, but I think I found a way to compensate for the whole depth perception thing." She angled her nose downwards slightly and looked straight at Addamo, her eyes turned upwards slightly, giving her some depth perception that she was comfortable with.

"Why is Col. Carter here anyway?" Tarvock asked.

"The Lucian Alliance is attacking the SGC," Sam answered. "Gen. Riverstone felt she needed to help us."

Tarvock flicked one ear downwards, a bit puzzled, "There is a difference in time between our universes?"

"That's what it looks like," Addamo answered. "Three weeks. And it's highly likely that you, me and Shandra don't exist in this universe."

"The only question I have," Vitero-Eli said, joining the conversation, "is why our universes are so…different. Why is the variation between our universes so extreme?"

Addamo sighed, "Well, Terra said something about perpendicular universes. Something about our two universes being very similar in many aspects, yet very different in many aspects."

"So, in other words," Sam said, "your species takes the place of my species in your universe, right?"

Addamo nodded, "Yeah, something like that."

TJ called to them from the infirmary entrance, "Col. Addamo, I'm ready to leave when you are."

Addamo nodded, "Right. Let's go Tarvock. Eli," he turned to Vitero-Eli, "You stay here."

"What? Really?" Vitero-Eli protested. "No way, I'm coming with you."

Addamo sighed, "Well, I was hoping you'd stay, teach Col. Carter here some more about using the body she's in, but since you want to come," he glanced at Sam, "I'm guessing you don't want to be here all alone."

Sam nodded, "Yeah. I haven't exactly been on a tour of this ship yet. I want to see it while I'm here."

Tarvock jumped down from the bed. "Well," Addamo said calling to TJ, "guess the whole teams coming too."

ͼͽ

Five marines surrounded the gate, their weapons aimed at the human hand that had just emerged through the event horizon. It was repeatedly clenching and unclenching into a fist slowly.

"What do we got?" Young asked as he descended the stairs to the gate room floor.

"Right now," Brody said indicating the hand, "a hand. Don't know for sure how long it will take for whoever it is to come through."

Young watched as the hand continued to move slowly, "Why's it moving so slow?"

Volker, who was standing with Brody at the gate control console, answered him, "It's the time differentiation between this side of the gate, and the gate on the other end. Since there's a black hole near the other gate, everything on that side is moving slower than we are…and we're seeing the result of the black holes effect on time. We're not effected by the black hole, but basically, we're moving faster than whoever is on the other end."

Brody added to Volker's answer, "And since they're still on the other side, the effect of the black hole transitions through the wormhole, and affects whatever is still present inside the event horizon. We can't see it, but there's a difference in time between the whole gate room, and the event horizon of our gate."

Scott and Greer arrived from the main hallway, followed by TJ, Varro, Sam, and the Viterosaurs. Rush walked in from the side hallway on Young's right. Chloe appeared at the top of the staircase landing.

"They still haven't made it all the way through yet?" asked Rush.

"The time difference is transitioning through to our event horizon," Brody answered.

"Well someone go over there and pull them out," Rush barked.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tarvock said. He stopped just a few feet away from the marine furthest from the gate in the middle of the gate walkway.

Rush glared at Tarvock, "And why's that?"

Sam answered him, "Because if anyone gets anywhere within an inch of that hand, will automatically be trapped in the time differential field the inbound traveler is trapped in." She shook her head, "It's not exactly the same, but it's similar to what happened when SG-10 gated to P3W-451, which was being pulled apart by a black hole. The gate wouldn't disengage because of the gravity well the black hole created, and the time dilation field it created started expanding beyond the horizon." She focused on the hand coming out of the Stargate, "But this is different in that the time dilation field _is_ the event horizon."

"Can you tell who it is Tarvock?" Vitero-Eli asked, warily standing behind the android.

"Negative," Tarvock answered shaking his head. "The time differential is affecting my ability to analyze the individuals DNA." He frowned.

Vitero-Eli noticed this, "You look like you want to say something else."

"I may have a solution," Tarvock answered, "to bringing the individual through more quickly." His eyes were studying the human hands movements carefully.

Young stepped closer to Tarvock, "Can you tell what the time difference is?"

Tarvock answered immediately, "About forty-five seconds and one-half of a microsecond. We're basically a blur to whoever is on the other end of the gate."

"What's your solution?" Young asked as he turned his gaze to the hand.

Tarvock hesitated for a moment as he ran through his solution multiple times before answering, "I create a time dilation field around myself and another person, speed up time around us."

"And how will you accomplish that?" Rush asked. "As far as I know, technology that can accomplish such a feat didn't exist when Destiny was constructed. Only the Asgard have that kind of technology."

Tarvock nodded, "You're right, Dr. Rush. But I'm an android, and I have something that you or anyone else of this universe doesn't seem to have."

"What's that?" Rush asked.

"A fragment of Col. Addamo's star heart crystal," Tarvock answered, tapping a claw against his head behind his eye.

"Tarvock," Addamo said as he protested against Tarvock's proposal, "you know that it's not safe for you to use the power of the crystal for that. You know what happened last time you did that, right?"

Tarvock sighed, "Yes, Col. Addamo. I am fully aware of the consequences of using the star heart crystal fragment. But that was before I knew about the affects of using it. I have weighed my options, and considered the consequences…I believe that using the fragment is the only plausible solution."

"And how do you know it won't kill you this time?" Vitero-Eli asked.

Tarvock shrugged, "I don't. But if we don't do it now, the time dilation field will slowly expand from the event horizon to the rest of the ship. We must act now if we are to shut the gate down to do that. I am willing to risk my life so that everyone else may live on."

Vitero-Eli glanced at Addamo, "Col.?"

Addamo was silent.

Young spoke up, "What are you going to do if you go through with it?"

"The other person will assist me in pulling the individual free from the event horizon," Tarvock answered, turning his stern yellow gaze to Young.

Young nodded, "Do it. We need that gate off now."

The android nodded, and held up a hand to Addamo, "Col., I require your star heart. You cannot assist me, as I need someone who has never used the power of the crystal before."

Addamo hesitated before he reluctantly reach up and place his hand underneath the crystal pendant. The crystal seemed to respond on its own, as the golden braided vine like necklace the crystal hung from began shifting. The necklace unwound itself from around Addamo's neck, and dropped into the palm of his hand. He placed it into Tarvock's hand.

"Don't worry Col.," said Tarvock, "I won't let anything happen to it." He turned and faced everyone in the gate room, and spoke loudly, "Who's willing to help me? Who's willing to become host to the star heart?"

No one willingly stepped forward.

Tarvock shrugged, "Then I guess this ship is doomed to be trapped in an ever expanding time dilation bubble. The outside world won't see this ship move forward for thousands of years, until the individual exits the event horizon."

"I'll do it," Young said stepping forward.

"No," Greer said, stepping in front of Young. "I'll do it."

"Sgt.-" Young began to protest.

Greer interrupted Young, "You're the commanding officer of this ship, Col. I'm not about to let you risk your life in this situation. Besides," he said smiling, "its better that I do this because if something happens to me, the chain of command on this ship won't suffer as bad as it would if something were to happen to you."

Young bit his lower lip, then nodded, "You'd better come back alive, Sgt. That's an order."

Greer turned to Tarvock while still speaking to Young, "Yes sir." He looked at the crystal in Tarvock's hand, and then turned his serious gaze up to the android, "So…what do I do?"

ͼͽ

Jack, Teal'c and Ronin led Riverstone through the maze of concrete hallways to the latest position the SGC marines had taken up after being pushed back by the Lucian's. As soon as they rounded the corner and approached the marines, Jack raised his voice, "Alright I want everyone to listen up!" Sheppard and Mitchell and the marines who were not fighting turned to face him. Riverstone stepped forward as Jack introduced her, "This is Gen. Shandra Riverstone. Until we stop the Lucian advance into the base, she's in command. You will obey her every command. And now, you will hear out her strategy."

Riverstone cleared her throat and spoke loudly to have her voice heard over the sounds of gunfire from down the hall, "You may be wondering right now who I am. You might even be thinking that you've never heard of a Gen. Shandra Riverstone. Let me tell you, you have never heard of me, as I am not of this universe." She paused to let them comprehend what she just told them. The marines whispered among themselves, unsure of whether to believe what she was saying. She continued, "Now, you might be wondering what has that have to do with my strategy. In my universe, the Lucian's attacked the SGC three weeks ago, and I played a role in stopping their advance." The marines stopped whispering among themselves, and listened intently. "The Lucian's attacked my SGC under differing circumstances, but that's beside the point. They have successfully pushed you back this far, and they will continue to push you back if you stay on the defensive side. They are on the offense, now it's time they go on defense."

"You want us to go on the offensive?" Sheppard asked.

"Precisely," Riverstone answered. "You aren't doing much good for the SGC by defending your position. You need to be on the offense, take back the ground you've lost, reclaim your territory."

"But we don't have enough men or firepower to give us an advantage on the offensive," a marine spoke up.

Riverstone nodded, "True. But you have me. I am your advantage."

"Alright," Mitchell said, "so what do you suggest we do…General?"

Riverstone reached a hand over her shoulder, "Ronin, sword please."

Ronin hesitated, opposed to the idea of handing over his cherished sword over to someone he didn't fully trust. He glanced at Jack, who nodded. Reluctantly, Ronin obeyed and unsheathed his sword, placing its handle in the palm of Riverstone's hand.

She grasped it firmly, "Thank you."

"No offense, General," a marine said, "but a sword isn't really going to help much against bullets."

"You forget Corporal," Riverstone said turning her head towards the marine, "I'm from a different universe. My species has been using the sword in the battlefield for millions of years." The marine's eyes widened, and Riverstone smirked, "We've had millions of years to master combat with the sword, not just guns. I have gone into countless wars and battles over a twenty-eight year period, fighting against enemies using modern weapons with nothing but a sword." She spun the sword around between her fingers by the handle. _"Good,"_ she thought, _"Seems I've mastered the use of a fifth finger already. The dexterity of such weak and clumsy hands is incredible."_ This seemed to dispel some of the marines' doubts that a sword would give them any advantage on the offensive.

Mitchell seemed convinced by her sword trick, "Alright, what are your orders, General?"

"We go on the offensive now," Riverstone replied. "Teal'c, Ronin, you two are with me in the primary assault. We'll disorganize the Lucians by rushing into their ranks. Mitchell, Sheppard, choose a team of five. You'll provide backup for us. The remaining men will deal with whoever's left standing." She glanced at Jack over her shoulder, "You plan on watching the show, Jack?"

Jack shrugged while shaking his head, "No, I think I'll just…wait here…where it's safe…and no bullets flying around my head." He tilted his head slightly to one side, "It's weird…having someone you've never met, talking to you like they've known you for years."

Riverstone smirked, "That's because I have known you for years, Jack." She turned and signaled to Ronin and Teal'c to follow her, "Let's move out. And Sheppard, have your men who are fighting right now take any injured to Dr. Lam."

Jack called after Riverstone as she walked away, Teal'c following closely behind while Ronin kept a short distance away, "Can ya at least call me General?"

Riverstone approached the corner of the hallway where the sounds of the battle were coming from. She hugged the wall and peered around the corner.

Teal'c took his position against the wall behind her, "Gen. Riverstone, what if we are not successful?"

Riverstone withdrew her head from around the corner. She paused as she thought about his question, "I usually tend not to think about that when I plan something like this. But we are going to be successful, because I've done this before."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, but did not respond. Riverstone peered around the corner again, this time signaling to Sheppard to get the men already fighting out of there.

Sheppard quickly disappeared around the corner, ducking low as he made his way to the seven remaining men defending their position behind the wall of sandbags. He tapped each one on their shoulders, signaling them to take any wounded and get out of there. He fired a spray of bullets in the direction of the Lucians, then ducked behind the sandbags as he was answered with returned gunfire. "Go!" he shouted to the last marine who seemed focused on helping Sheppard. "Go!" The marine hesitated for a brief moment, then sprinted as fast as he could to the corner. A bullet hit him in the back, and he immediately fell to the ground just as he reached the corner. "Damn it," Sheppard muttered to himself. He quickly poked his head up and fired off another spray of bullets before ducking back down. One of the marines dragged the wounded soldier behind the corner.

"Take him and the wounded to Dr. Lam now!" Riverstone barked at the marine's Sheppard had relieved of their positions at the frontline. She signaled to Mitchell and his team of five to move out and join Sheppard at the wall of sandbags.

They too rushed around the corner and sprinted for cover behind the sandbags.

"Long time no see!" Sheppard shouted to Mitchell, who dove for cover next to Sheppard.

"Likewise!" Mitchell replied. He quickly threw his arms on top of the sandbag wall and fired at the enemy.

Riverstone turned to Teal'c and Ronin, "You two ready?"

"I am," Teal'c answered.

"I thought you'd never ask," Ronin replied. "Let's show these assholes who they're dealing with."

Riverstone nodded and spun around the corner, Teal'c and Ronin following closely behind on either side of her. All three of them jumped over sandbag barrier.

Sheppard, Mitchell and their team of five followed their example as they provided cover for the three. The remaining marines were not too far behind.

The Lucian's were taken off guard by the sudden change in tactics.

Teal'c and Ronin fired into the surprised Lucian's, and Riverstone blocked a few stray bullets with Ronin's sword. They penetrated the enemy lines, continuing to rush forward. Ronin encountered a stunned Lucian, and aimed his weapon point blank at his face and fired. The Lucian fell to the ground. Teal'c blind-sided two Lucians who had their weapons trained on Riverstone. He raised both P90's and walked forward, firing both weapons into the Lucian ranks. They dropped like flies. Riverstone hacked and slashed her way through the enemy lines, one Lucian at a time with blinding speed. Ronin tried to keep up with her as much as possible, but Riverstone's speed and agility was inhuman. She weaved in and out of the Lucian Ranks, taking down one after another as she passed them. With a flick of her right hand, a Lucian fell with his belly split open. With a nonchalant swish of her right wrist, three more Lucian's crumpled to the floor, beheaded. Ronin tried to keep right on her heels, but all he could do was linger behind with Teal'c and take care of the Lucians the Riverstone had only wounded.

Sheppard and Mitchell and their team tried to provide as much cover as they could, but they were already too far into enemy lines to provide the necessary backup. They resorted to taking down any Lucians that the three warriors had left behind, the marines in the rear joining up with them.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake beneath everyone's feet.

Around the corner, following the wounded marine's, Jack stopped as he felt the ground beneath him shake. He turned and looked over his shoulder down the hallway, _"What the hell are they doing down there?"_ he thought.

Teal'c, Ronin and Riverstone stopped their assault as they frantically looked all around them to see what was going on. The Lucian's were just as frantic, but they seemed to know what was going on.

The ground and walls shook for a few more seconds, before the ceiling directly above Riverstone cracked and caved down, a hole appearing where the concrete ceiling had collapsed. Riverstone and three Lucians dove to the ground as transport rings descended down on them from the hole. They stopped, the bottom ring resting on the ground. The energy transfer began, and in the matter of a second, three figures stood in the middle of the rings. No sooner had they appeared, the transport rings quickly ascended upwards through the hole and disappeared.

All eyes beheld the three Unas that stood where the transport rings had been. They were a grizzly sight to behold; clothing that was clearly of primitive and ancient times, scales and horns, and many scratches and scars where they had been wounded. All three of them held a staff weapon in one hand, and Zat guns in the other.

Somewhere, a Lucian shouted, "They're here! The Kora are here!" Every Lucian began to scramble away from the three Unas. No sooner had they all begun moving, the Unas began to open fire upon them with their staff weapons. Lucians began dropping to the ground, dead upon impact with the floor. Riverstone, Teal'c and Ronin all simultaneously responded to the new threat by attacking them head on.

Teal'c fired his P90's at the nearest Unas, but a force shield protected it. The Unas growled at Teal'c, it's eye's glowing. Teal'c dropped his weapons, and rushed at the Unas, tackling it and taking it down to the ground.

Ronin threw his weapon to the ground and raised his fists, "C'mon you ugly scaly bastard! Show me what you got!" The Unas took him up on his offer, dropping its staff weapon to the ground. It threw a punch at Ronin with incredible speed, its fist meeting his face. Ronin's head snapped back from the impact, but he did not lower his fists. He shook his head as a stream of blood appeared from both nostrils, and laughed at the Unas. "Nice one," he said, "but I can do better." He dodged as the Unas threw another punch at him, and he responded with an uppercut to the Unas' chin. Ronin grimaced as pain shot through his fist and up his arm. He backed up, shaking his hand in pain. The Unas laughed at the sight. Ronin glared at it, "What are you laughing at ugly? At least I didn't have a snake as a mother!" The Unas snarled and lunged at him. "C'mon!" Ronin shouted.

Riverstone brought Ronin's sword down upon the third Unas' head, which the Unas promptly blocked with a scaly arm. Out of nowhere, a long blade materialized in the Unas's other hand. It appeared in a bright light that started in the Unas's hand, and travelled upwards, the blade of the sword materializing as the light continued upwards. The light disappeared after the tip of the sword materialized. Riverstone gazed at the blade, mesmerized, but quickly snapped out of her trance as the Unas swung that sword at her. She ducked, the blade just missing her head. Jumping back, Riverstone blocked another attack, sparks flying as metal hit metal.

"So," Riverstone said, glaring into the Unas' eyes, "you're the one's the Lucians of this universe are afraid of aren't you? You're the "god" of the Goa'uld, right?"

The Unas narrowed its eyes and spoke in a deep, almost demonic feminine Goa'uld voice, "This universe?"

Riverstone smirked, "I may look human to you, but this isn't my body." She broke away from the Unas, but violently kicked the Unas in the midsection. The Unas took a step back, surprised by the strength behind the kick. "I'm from another universe," Riverstone said, "and in my universe, you don't exist, Oma Ki'goa'uld. That is your name, correct?"

Oma Ki'goa'uld growled and lunged at Riverstone, "You dare speak my name human?" She dragged the tip of the blade against the floor, causing sparks to fly. She swung upwards, but only cut through air. She spun around quickly, blocking Riverstone's side swing, "You will die for speaking my name with your foul mouth, human."

Riverstone laughed, "My mouth is foul? Look who's talking. Your breath reeks. And I'm not human!"

Oma Ki'goa'uld snarled, pushing Riverstone away from her, "Then what are you if you are not human?"

Riverstone placed a hand on her breast, "I…am a Viterosaur. A reptilian species that evolved in my universe two hundred thirty million years ago." She smiled, "And in my universe, my race is far more advanced than the Goa'uld. Though, seems that in this universe, the Goa'uld is no more." Oma Ki'goa'uld lunged at her again, but Riverstone quickly evaded the attack, slashing the ancient goa'uld's back.

"The goa'uld that have fallen at the hands of the humans," Oma Ki'goa'uld retorted, "were weak. They were nothing compared to what their ancestors were. I am the original Goa'uld, the most powerful Goa'uld and being to ever exist in the universe! I am a GOD!" She attacked Riverstone again.

Riverstone scoffed at that while she lazily blocked the attack, "Is that true? If you're so powerful, then why don't you have an empire, like your descendants did? Why haven't you enslaved the entire galaxy, like your descendants almost did? Why haven't you made your name known throughout the galaxy if you are the "god" you say you are? Seems to me that your descendants were the more powerful "gods" than the very god that gave birth to them. Seems to me, like you're descendants were more successful at living up to the title of "god" than you."

"Silence!" Oma Ki'goa'uld commanded. "You will die a most unpleasant death for belittling a God!"

They engaged one another, and the real battle between acclaimed god and mortal truly began.

ͼͽ

The morning air was crisp and cool as the sun rose over the alien landscape. It looked like a scene from Earth, but there was only one difference; there were countless buildings and skyscrapers resembling those of Atlantis. They were everywhere in all directions. It was an alien city, an all too familiar alien city, and it stretched across the entire surface of the planet where land was available. There were thousands and thousands of ports that extended far past the coastlines of all seven continents. All the continents were linked by massive bridges, connecting the truly massive cities that blanketed the continents. There was not a trace of uninhabited land left on the planet.

There was only one race in the whole of the Pegasus galaxy that was capable of building on such a planetary scale…the Asurans.

On the southernmost continent of the planet, buildings arranged in concentric rings surrounded by water, encircled a single large building on an island in the very center of the rings. A single bridge or highway crossed each of these rings to connect the central building with the rest of the city that surrounded the rings. This manmade geometric structure was clearly visible from orbit.

A lone figure stood on a balcony overlooking the concentric rings. It was a human woman. Another human woman appeared at her side, joining in gazing out upon the city. Then the second woman spoke, "Dr. Weir, Theogret has requested your presence in his laboratory immediately. He says it's urgent."

Doctor Elizabeth Weir turned to the woman. She spoke with an air of authority, "Did he tell you what for?"

The woman shook her head, "He did not. He only said that you will find it quite interesting."

Dr. Weir nodded her head and dismissed the woman, "Thank you, Etria."

Etria bowed, turned and left Dr. Weir standing alone on the balcony again.

She looked out across the landscape of skyscrapers again for a moment before she turned and left. The large doors leading into the massive room that was her personal quarters opened by themselves as Dr. Weir approached them.

Following a confusing maze of ballroom sized hallways, Dr. Weir reached her destination after a few minutes. She turned a corner into a smaller corridor lined with doors similar to those on Atlantis. She passed quite a few doors before she stopped and turned to face one of the doors. The doors did not open for her, so she spoke loudly, "Theogret, you called for me to come. Open the doors."

A soft male voice seemed to respond from thin air, "Ah, Dr. Weir. Come in. I have something exciting to show you."

She waved her hand over the crystal panel on the wall next to the frame of the door. The crystals lit up, and the door opened for her. She entered. Inside the large laboratory, various instruments and machines cluttered the room. In the center of the room was a table with a mass of glass objects and flasks, many connected to one another by a network of glass tubes. Various colored chemicals bubbled and frothed inside some of the glass flasks and objects. Dr. Weir searched around the room, but did not see anyone. "Theogret?" she called out.

A man in a white lab uniform with many different colored stains and burn marks stood up from behind the table, peering at her through the gaps between the glass flasks and glass tube network. "Dr. Weir, good of you to come." He stepped around the table, "Please, follow me."

Dr. Weir followed him deeper into his laboratory. It was truly a large laboratory. The ceiling suddenly grew taller as the laboratory opened up into a larger area. They rounded a corner that lead into the larger area, which was full of large pieces of equipment and various machines that lay scattered across the whole of the laboratory. Near the farthest wall, a Pegasus Stargate stood propped on a pedestal.

Theogret stopped in front of a rectangular machine that was as large as he was tall with various blinking lights on it. He began to fiddle with dials that lined the top of the machine, each with a blinking light above it. Dr. Weir eyed the Stargate, and noticed that the wall directly behind it had been reconstructed various times. "How long are you going to keep the gate to yourself, Theogret?" she asked.

Theogret paused to glance at the gate before continuing turning more dials, "Actually, that's what I had you come here for." He turned to face her, "We can move the Stargate back to the original pedestal."

"You're done with your work?" Dr. Weir asked a bit surprised. "You said your studies and experiments would take about a decade to complete."

Theogret shrugged, "I guess my calculations were drastically off. None of us are perfect." He paused for a moment and added, "Except you."

Dr. Weir sighed, "Yes, none of us are perfect. Now what is it you wanted to show me?"

"Ah, yes," Theogret said. He motioned her to follow him to a table with a mass of what looked like papers piled up high above the table. A single large piece of the paper-like material lay in the middle of the table, "This is what I wanted to show you," he said, pointing to the paper.

Dr. Weir inspected the paper. All of the symbols of the Pegasus gate were inscribed on it. Many gate addresses and mathematical formulas were scribbled all over the paper, and many of them were crossed out. But there was one gate address and lengthy mathematical formula that were not crossed out, on the very bottom of the paper. Instead of seven symbols being in the gate address, there were nine symbols. She pointed to the address, "What is this?"

Theogret seemed excited that she had spotted it right away, but he restrained his excitement, "I was hoping you'd see that right away."

"There's nine symbols in this address," Dr. Weir noted. "Is it even possible? We only know that it's possible to unlock the eighth chevron. And that's only to dial Earth. There is no record of any gates unlocking the ninth chevron."

Theogret stopped her, "True, there are no records…that we know of."

Dr. Weir narrowed her eyes, "That we know of?"

Theogret nodded, "The Ancients are the one's who built the Stargate. They built it with nine chevrons for a reason, and it was intended for use." He took a deep breath as his excitement clearly was mounting, "There are no concrete records that the ninth chevron has ever been used inside of the Pegasus Galaxy. But outside of this galaxy…" His voice trailed off as he turned his head to gaze at the Stargate.

"Go on," Dr. Weir said as this grabbed her attention.

Theogret continued, "While my science team was patrolling the debris field from the destruction of Asuras last month, they discovered something…extraordinary."

"Which was?" Dr. Weir asked.

Theogret reached into a side pocket in his lab coat, and pulled out a small rock sample with a single piece of what looked like a metallic crystal imbedded into the surface of the rock.

Dr. Weir gasped silently, "I didn't think the Milky Way Replicators made into this galaxy."

"They didn't," Theogret replied. He handed her the fossilized piece of Replicator, "The Replicators originated from the Pegasus Galaxy. It only happened that this piece went from this galaxy, to the Milky Way and back in only the span of a single year." He smiled as Dr. Weir studied the piece of ancient metal intently, "This is a piece of the very first Replicator technology ever created, the prototype to our race."

Dr. Weir looked up at him, amazed, "Are you sure?"

"I am positive," Theogret said nodding. "The Milky Way Replicators did not initially develop into what the Milky Way dealt with almost a decade ago. It took them several years to develop into the robotic insects that SG-1 battled against. This piece is just a fragment of what started the Milky Way Replicators."

"Then how did it manage to wind up back here?" Dr. Weir asked as she examined the metal fragment from all angles, "Particularly, how did it end up fossilized on Asuras?"

"Because this was the very piece that started our race in this galaxy," Theogret replied. "We all emerged from this piece. The Ancients that created us returned to Pegasus with this piece of Replicator technology in hand. And then it was thrown into a volcano after it was deemed unusable by them."

"That's how it became fossilized," Dr. Weir said. "Then what does this have to do with the ninth chevron?"

"Because," Theogret said, "This piece of technology was a witness to the unlocking of the ninth chevron in the Milky Way."

Dr. Weir looked up at him again, "And?"

Theogret smiled, his excitement visible, "It has that very nine symbol address stored inside its memory cells."

Dr. Weir's excitement about the discovery began to mount, but was quickly dispelled when she thought of something, "But the address stored in its memory cells is from a Milky Way gate, not a Pegasus gate."

"Yes," Theogret nodded, "that was a problem. It took me nearly the whole month to find a way of compensating for the difference between the Milky Way gates and the Pegasus gates. Luckily, it also has the Milky Way gate symbols stored as well. But coming up with this formula," Theogret said pointing to the large mathematical formula beneath the nine symbol address, "was the difficult part. But using this formula, I have successfully translated the Milky Way gate symbols in the address, to correspond with Pegasus gate symbols. And I do believe that we have the nine symbol address that will allow us to dial all nine chevrons…and establish a stable wormhole."

Dr. Weir glanced at the gate address, and then turned her gaze towards the gate, "But where will it take us once we do establish a wormhole?"

Theogret shrugged, and he too looked over at the gate, "That question, I cannot answer. But once we move the gate back to the original pedestal, and siphon all the power from every ZPM on this planet…" He and Dr. Weir looked at each other, "The only way we'll be able to know what's on the other side of the gate once we establish a wormhole…is to walk through. We'll know what it is we're walking into when that happens."

Dr. Weir looked at him for a moment as she returned the fossilized Replicator fragment to him, "And you intend to do this soon? How can you be so sure that it won't be a trap?"

"I intend to do this now," Theogret said, nodding as he took back the Replicator fragment. "Elizabeth, you owe me. I am after all the one who saved you from being executed. It was very difficult keeping your existence a secret from Oberoth before Asuras was destroyed. Now, I need you to trust me on this." He studied the Replicator fragment for a moment before returning it to his coat pocket, "I highly doubt the Ancients would set up a trap on the other end of an address that practically no living being has ever known about for the last ten thousand years."

Dr. Weir knew he was right. She returned her focus on the gate as she considered his proposal. The thought of going through the Stargate when all nine chevrons were active was very appealing to her. She nodded, "Alright, we'll do it. I'll have a moving crew come in to return the Stargate back to its pedestal. The only catch is that I'm going through with you. Gather all necessary personnel, supplies and equipment." She turned and headed out of the laboratory, while calling over her shoulder, "We leave tomorrow at dusk."

Å

End Chapter 4


	5. Wish Upon a Star  Part 2

**EDIT: 2/14/2012**

**Hello fellow SGU fans! Chapter 5, Wish Upon a Star - Part 2 has been edited and new material has been added! Most of the content is still the same, and the story is still very much just the same. But I have reread everything, edited, added some new things here and there and replaced the original Chapter 5 with the new and improved Chapter 5! Hope you guys enjoy a better read with the improved Chapter 5! Oh, and I am removing the M Rating for this story, as I have edited out the adult content. So now, SGU fans of ALL AGES can enjoy the read!**

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><p><em>Hello fans of Stargate Universe. The name's sheesh.<em>

_This is the story of our friends onboard the Destiny, 3 years after they made the fateful FTL jump from one galaxy, to another. We follow them as their jouney continues through this new, and strange galaxy. What mysteries await them? What sort of alien species will they encounter, and wil they be hostile? And what has become of the one man we have come to know and love as the incredibly smart, Eli Wallace? Has he survived the jump? Or did the crew wake up too late? To find out the answers to these questions, read the story that could have been, the story that many of us SGU fans would love to see finished._

_This is a fan fiction that I have been working on for the last few months. Forgive me if you see mistakes here and there, as I have been a novice writer for about 6 years now. Since I learned while watching the season 2 finale that there would no longer be new episodes, I was haunted with many, many questions about where the story of the Destiny would go, and what would become of the characters we have come to love. After giving it some thought, I decided I would write my take on a season 3 of Stargate Universe. This is a fan fiction, written by a fan, for the fans. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. This is the biggest project I've ever done. Please, I only ask one thing from those of you who read it...**REVIEWS!** Again, I'm still a novice writer, and I need...would like reviews from other fans ands readers about my writings. If there is something that you did or did not like, please tell me in your review, so that I may improve upon it in future chapters. Again, **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_

**Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum**

**This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.**

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><p>112/2012

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Wish Upon A Star - Part 2

The battle between mortals and acclaimed gods waged for several hours. The Lucian forces were no where to be seen, while Sheppard and the marines could do nothing but watch as Teal'c, Ronin and Riverstone battled it out with the Kora in the junction connecting three corridors. Ronin and the more bulky Unas still continued to exchange fists and headbutts with one another. The Unas fighting with Teal'c swung with its staff weapon, which Teal'c blocked with an iron pipe he managed to wrench off of the wall. Teal'c was becoming visibly fatigued, but he fought on. Riverstone and Oma Ki'goa'uld still battled with their swords.

The Unas fighting Teal'c saw an opportunity, and seized it without a second thought. It swung the end of its staff weapon at Teal'c's feet, which he attempted to avoid, but was clipped on one foot. He fell to the ground on his back, and the Unas prevented him getting up by holding the nose of the staff weapon just inches from his chin. Its eyes glowed, and it spoke in a deep male goa'uld voice, "Jaffa! Shak'ti'qua? Koracca aseemu. I am a god. Cease your rebellion, worship me and I shall spare your life."

Teal'c smiled, as he heard that statement many times before, "Gonach! Na'onak!" The Unas growled angrily as Teal'c spit at him, "Kree shac, shel nok! I am a free Jaffa! I have destroyed many of your kind who claimed to be gods'. I would rather die than worship a false god such as you. Dal shakka mel!"

The Unas grimaced at Teal'c's defiance, bearing his fangs, "Hassak! Then you shall die a most dishonorable death for defying a god! Tal!" The nose of the staff weapon opened, and charged.

"Hey! Ugly!" Mitchell suddenly shouted from down the corridor. The Unas turned to face Mitchell, who shouldered an AT4, unguided rocket launcher. Mitchell shouted again as he looked down the small sight on the launcher, "Why don't you suck on this?" He pulled the trigger. Flames and smoke erupted from the back of the launcher behind him, and the missile sped out of the muzzle, directly at the Unas Teal'c had been fighting.

Ronin saw the flames from launcher, and he dove to the floor as the Unas he was fighting swung at him. Riverstone dove to the floor out of the way as well, just as Oma Ki'goa'uld turned at the sound of the launcher firing. It all happened in the blink of an eye. The rocket made contact with the Unas Mitchell fired at. Instead of exploding on contact, the rocket kept going. It lifted the Unas off its feet upon impact, sending him backwards with it, into the Unas Ronin had been fighting. Still, the rocket did not explode, but kept going, also lifting the second Unas off its feet. They flew backwards straight towards Oma Ki'goa'uld. But at the last second, Oma Ki'goa'uld stepped to one side just as they flew by. Flying down the corridor, a second after passing Oma Ki'goa'uld by, the two Unas impacted the wall at the end of the corridor. The explosion rocked the ground as a ball of fire burst from the missile. The sound was deafening, and reverberated down through the maze of corridors.

Oma Ki'goa'uld looked on, a bit shocked by the large explosion caused by such a primitive device. The dust and smoke cloud from the explosion dissipated after a few seconds. There was no sign of the two Unas, only a large black burn on the wall, ceiling and floor, as well as a few crumbled pieces of the wall and ceiling and what were likely the charred remains of the two Unas. Oma Ki'goa'uld stared in disbelief. Her first two offspring were gone, dead, no longer alive. For the first time since she and her race came into existence, Oma Ki'goa'uld was alone, left to fight by herself. She could not believe that her two offspring had been taken down by such weak beings, even though they were protected by technology far advanced than what the humans have.

Riverstone stood up, dusting herself off. She glanced over her shoulder at Mitchell, who shrugged.

Ronin had gotten up and helped Teal'c to his feet. "You alright?" he asked.

Teal'c nodded, "I am." Mitchell strode over, grinning as he patted Teal'c on the shoulder.

Oma Ki'goa'uld whirled around. Her infuriated glowing eyes immediately fell upon Mitchell. "Tar! Rok ona ja kuna! Shel we how'a kek!" she bellowed in pure rage.

Mitchell seemed unfazed by her threat, but sarcastically pretended to be frightened by her anger, "Oh no! Please don't kill me, oh powerful god! Spare me! I'll do anything!" He and Ronin laughed together as this only served to enrage Oma Ki'goa'uld even further.

Teal'c spoke calmly, "Now you see that even Goa'uld die in battle, not only Jaffa. And your claims of being gods only serve to hide your fear from that knowledge."

Oma Ki'goa'uld rushed towards them, raising her sword high above her head as she bellowed in rage, "Tal!"

Teal'c stepped in front of Mitchell, intending to shield him from the attack.

Suddenly, Riverstone seemed to appear out of nowhere next to the rushing goa'uld. Oma Ki'goa'uld suddenly froze as Riverstone took one step forward and, holding Ronin's sword so that the bottom of the handle was by her thumb, buried the entire length of the blade up to the handle into the Unas' chest.

Oma Ki'goa'uld's eyes widened as she felt the cold surface of the blade piercing through her chest, and emerging from her back. She remained completely still, unable to move her limbs. Dark blood began trickling from her mouth, running down her chin and dripping onto the concrete floor. Riverstone released her grip on the sword, and stood up straight. She looked at the ancient goa'uld with pity in her eyes, "As ancient as you are, you seem to have forgotten the number one law in a dual…never turn your back on your enemies." She turned towards Mitchell, Ronin and Teal'c. Teal'c nodded at her, and she nodded in response. Still looking at them, Riverstone gripped the sword handle and spoke to the goa'uld, "Your playtime as a god is over. Go burn in hell." With that, she forcefully wrenched the sword from the goa'uld's chest while twisting it on the way out, and walked back to the group. The goa'uld remained standing for a few more seconds before dropping forward onto the floor.

Teal'c picked up his weapons, and walked over to the mother of the Goa'uld race. He gazed down at the creature with disgust, "Let this be the last breath your species ever draws in this universe." He aimed his weapons, and fired a spray of bullets from both P90's into the goa'uld's back.

When he was done, he returned to Mitchell and the others. Mitchell smiled at bit at him, "Satisfied?"

Teal'c paused as he thought for a moment. He turned, raised one P90, and shot another spray of bullets into the dead goa'uld. Turning back to Mitchell, the relief on his face was clearly visible as he nodded once, "Indeed."

ͼͽ

Tarvock placed the blue jewel into the palm of Greer's hand, "Don't worry Sgt. There is no pain involved in becoming a host. Although, I will warn you, it will feel a bit weird."

"Yeah," Greer said nodding while gazing down at the large crystal. It was surprisingly heavier than he expected. It fit perfectly in the palm of his hand, but it felt as heavy as a twenty pound exercise weight. He noticed that the golden vine-like strands that made up the necklace were shifting, "So I just…put it on?"

"Hold the pendant near your dog-tags," Tarvock said. "First, it needs to choose you as its host."

Greer hesitated for a moment, _"He's talking about it as if it's got a mind of its own,"_ he thought. _"What the hell, I'll just do this thing."_ He raised the blue crystal up to where his dog-tags hung beneath his shirt. He looked down and watched as the vine-like strands seemed to cautiously inspect him, touching the bar skin of his neck very gingerly. The strands were surprisingly warm, as if they were generating their own heat. As more of the vine-like strands that made up the necklace touched the skin of his neck, he looked up at Tarvock, "This thing ain't going to choke me, is it?"

Tarvock smiled, "Don't worry Sgt. Greer. It's only inspecting your energy. The star heart crystal is a peaceful creature; it would never harm another living being that could potentially be a suitable host."

Greer raised his eyebrows, "This thing is alive?"

Tarvock nodded, "Yes. It's a parasite. The crystal structure itself is the parasite, to be precise. According to Ancient research, every star in the universe, save for white dwarfs, have these crystalline parasites in the center of them." He paused, then added, "They are after all the very heart of the stars. Without them, there'd be no stars in the universe."

Greer looked back down as the strands of the necklace slowly travelled up over the humps of his collar bones, and around to the base of his neck. They weaved themselves into braids before they interlocked with one another just above the base of his neck, and stopped shifting once they were secure around his neck. Greer removed his hand from beneath the pendant, and let it hang. It was a very heavy object for its size. He turned to Addamo, "Damn, how the hell do you carry this thing around all the time?"

Addamo shrugged.

Greer turned back to Tarvock, "Right. So now what do we do?"

"Not we," Tarvock replied, "you. Have some one hold your weapon for you. You're going to need both hands to pull the individual free from the event horizon." Greer slipped the strap of his Heckler & Koch G36K off from around his shoulder and chest and tossed the weapon to a marine standing nearby. "Now, don't be alarmed Sgt. I'm going to place my hand on the crystal," Tarvock said. Greer nodded, and Tarvock placed his hand on the jewel, "Now, repeat what I say. 'Star of the Ancients-"

Greer repeated his words as instructed, "Star of the Ancients-"

"I, Sgt. Ronald Greer of Earth-" Tarvock continued, and Greer repeated, "Ask of you to grant my wish in exchange for my strength. I wish for you to create a time dilation field around myself and Tarvock, and increase the time by forty-five seconds and one-half of a microsecond."

"-and increase the time by forty-five seconds and one-half of a microsecond," Greer finished repeating Tarvock's words. He closed his eyes.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Greer opened one eye to look down. The crystal suddenly began to shine a brilliant blue, the glow penetrating through Tarvock's hand. Greer felt something happen. He could feel his energy draining as the crystal continued to shine brightly. It was a strange feeling. For a moment, he became nervous, a bit afraid that the crystal was draining his life away. He fought the urge to rip Tarvock's hand off his chest and forcefully remove the star heart crystal from around his neck. But then, he felt a peaceful, caring presence around him. It was a warm, nurturing feeling, like that of a mother that loved her newborn baby very dearly. It surrounded him, and eased his nervousness. All fear seemed to disappear just as suddenly as it had appeared.

A transparent blue bubble appeared above and around him and Tarvock, then disappeared as it completely encased them. Tarvock removed his hand from Greer's chest. Greer looked down at the crystal again, inspected his hands to make sure he still had all ten fingers, "Did it work?" he asked.

"Take a look for yourself," Tarvock answered, indicating towards everyone else in the gate room.

Greer glanced toward Young, the marines, Chloe, and Scott. They were all looking directly at him, but they were not blinking. Chloe had her eyes closed, one marine seemed to be reaching his hand up to his head to scratch an itch, but his hand was barely moving. Young stood like a stone statue, looking on into nothingness, and Scott appeared to be scratching his nose, albeit very slowly. "They're not moving," Greer said as he walked up to Young and waved his hand in front of his face.

"Precisely," Tarvock answered as he focused his attention on the Stargate, "that's because we're moving faster than they are. We're moving too fast for them to even see. To them, it's as if we just vanished into thin air."

Greer turned towards Tarvock, "How long does this last for?"

"Until you wish again for the time dilation field to be removed," Tarvock replied.

Greer walked over and stopped next to Tarvock, gazing at the motionless ripples of the Stargate, "So, now we just go up and full whoever it if out of the Stargate?"

Tarvock nodded, "Yes, but we must proceed with caution."

"Why's that?" Greer asked. Tarvock didn't answer for a moment. Greer glanced at him, "Yo!"

"Because the address this individual has dialed from…" said Tarvock, "is of the same planet that myself, Gen. Riverstone and Col. Addamo encountered an advanced form of the Petrus'iri parasite that had assimilated nanite and various advanced technologies into itself." He turned an eye towards Greer while his head still faced the Stargate, "The entire planet was covered by this parasite…perhaps the planet itself had become part of the parasite."

Greer looked back at the Stargate, and the hand protruding from the event horizon, "So, we've got a problem, right?"

"I believe so," Tarvock answered.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Greer said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's get that guy out of there already."

Tarvock slowly nodded. He was silent for a few seconds, then spoke, "Sgt., you're going to have to pull the individual out. I believe they are struggling to get through the Stargate, but the parasite has managed to grab hold of them, and is trying to pull them away."

Greer nodded, "I'm going for it now. What are you going to do?" Greer walked up closer to the active gate, Tarvock followed.

"If it comes that the parasite is trying to pull them away," said Tarvock, "I may have to cut them free." He raised his right arm up, and a sword blade suddenly sprung out of his forearm, much like a pocket knife would flip open. This surprised Greer, but he maintained a straight face. The blade was about as long as Tarvock's forearm. It was a stainless steel color, and the last half a foot of the tip of the blade curved outwards in a smooth arc before curving back and meeting the tip. There was no handle on this blade, rather it was attached to a hinge just below his wrist bone, and the hinge itself "But Sgt.," Tarvock stopped Greer before he could grab the hand, "Once you take hold of this individual, you will be caught in the time dilation field of the event horizon. When that happens, you will return to normal time. I won't be able to help you immediately, as you will have slowed down for me. It may be a minute or so before I can help."

Greer nodded. He turned his attention back to the hand in the event horizon. He took a deep breath, "Here goes nothing." As soon as he took a firm grip of the hand, he immediately began to pull. But no sooner had he grabbed the hand, Tarvock disappeared, and everyone else began to move normally again.

"Holy…" one of the marines said as Greer suddenly appeared at the event horizon in less than a split second.

"Wow," Brody said.

"So that's how a time dilation field works," said Chloe.

Greer pulled with all his might. His muscles strained as the hand slowly slid further out of the event horizon. The sleeve of a grey sweatshirt emerged through the event horizon.

"Corporal!" Young barked at the marine closest to Greer, "Help him!"

"No!" Greer shouted, "I got this!" He pulled harder and harder, and more and more of the persons arm began to emerge. As he continued to pull, the hand began to slowly close around Greer's hand. Soon, the hand had taken a firm hold of Greer's hand, telling him that whoever was on the other end finally found out they were being helped.

Tarvock waited patiently. Several minutes had already passed by since Greer began pulling. To him, Greer seemed motionless, but Tarvock's internal motion sensors and clock told him that Greer was indeed still moving.

Addamo watched as more and more of the individuals arm slid out of the event horizon. He glanced at Young, "Everett, what if it's an enemy?"

Young thought about Addamo's question. Rush spoke first before Young could answer, "And what enemy would you know about that is human, Col. Addamo? Do you perhaps know something we don't?"

Addamo was a bit taken aback by Rush's blunt questions, "No, I never even heard about of a human until I came to this universe." He paused for a moment, realizing that Rush was suspicious of him, "You still don't trust us, do you? I just gave one of your men the most powerful object in the universe...and yet you don't trust our honesty?"

Rush replied, "It's not that I do not trust you, Col. Rather, since your universe is three weeks ahead of ours, you may already know who that person might be…unless…"

"This hasn't happened in our universe," Vitero-Eli stated. "At least," he turned an eye towards Addamo, "I don't think it's happened…right?"

Addamo shook his head, "No. After Shandra defeated the Lucians' attacking the SGC, she came back and we went looking for you. It took us several days to locate the planet where the Bluei's took you." He returned his focus to the Stargate and Greer, who was still pulling with all his might to pull the individual through the event horizon. "No body ever dialed Destiny from the planet where we rescued you…this event is different from our universe."

Vitero-Eli looked back at the Stargate, "Maybe…we changed the future of this universe."

"It's highly likely," Brody said. Rush turned his head towards Brody, "I mean, remember when Dr. Jackson was transported to an alternate universe when he touched the Quantum Mirror? Earth in that universe was under attack by the Goa'uld Ra. And they were losing. When Dr. Jackson saw what was going on, he was convinced the same thing would happen in our universe…"

"And it did," Rush said as he remembered what he read in the report.

Brody nodded, "And with a little help from the Asgard, we managed to fight off the Goa'uld, thanks to Dr. Jackson's experience in the other universe. Just from what he saw, we were prepared for the attack, and we won. That changed the course of our future."

Vitero-Eli indicated towards Brody, "Yeah, what he said."

Rush sighed, "That very well might be the case," he turned back towards Addamo, "and do not get me wrong, Col. Addamo. I am not suspicious of you in anyway."

Young glanced at Rush. "_What does he know? What isn't he telling me?"_ he thought to himself.

Rush continued, "I was merely asking because having you here may help provide insight into our future."

"But I thought you said their universe was different than ours," Chloe stated.

Rush nodded, "Yes, I did say that. But I also said that their universe is similar to ours as well. Unlike alternate universes' and realities, 'perpendicular' universes' may have similar events and futures to ours, while still going down a different path."

"You mean that someone in their universe can make a completely different choice," Chloe said, "than the same person in our universe, yet the outcome of their choice in their universe can be the same as the outcome as in our universe?"

"Precisely," Rush answered, nodding.

"I think I know what you're getting at," Addamo said. "Unlike your universe, we didn't get any help from the Asgard to fight off Ra's assault on Earth. We managed to fight him off ourselves. Different story, yet same outcome, right?" Rush nodded. "The events that brought us to our Destiny are probably different than yours, but it's the same outcome. All the same people are in the same place in two different universes'."

"Only difference is…"Vitero-Eli added, "our species are different from each other."

Addamo ignored being interrupted and continued, "And going back to what Brody said about Dr. Jackson's experience, I think what you were getting at was that when two universes' interact with one another, they influence each other. Our presence in your universe has more than likely altered the course of your future."

"But then what about your universe?" Chloe asked. "Wouldn't that mean the future of you universe has changed too?"

Addamo shrugged.

"I don't think so," Vitero-Eli said. "None of your people are in our universe. So them not being there, they can't change the future of our universe."

"But your absence may just as well be a factor in changing the future of your universe," Rush said.

Vitero-Eli seemed embarrassed that he had overlooked that, "Yeah, I was getting to that."

Rush turned his attention to Greer again and spoke to Addamo, "Now, to answer your question from before, Col., it's highly unlikely that individual is an enemy. We haven't been in this galaxy long enough to make any enemies, aside from the aliens that abducted Chloe and I." He scratched his chin, "But that person may just as well be a Novan that had dialed the wrong address." He paused, and glanced over at Vitero-Eli, "Or…" Vitero-Eli looked a bit puzzled by why Rush was looking at him, "It may very well be you who Sgt. Greer is trying to pull through the gate."

ͼͽ

Despite all of the activity in the gate room that Terra had overheard about, she had already occupied herself with a task she deemed important. She was in her quarters lying on her bed, her back resting against the head board and wall behind the bed and her legs bent upwards as if she were reading a book. She was feverishly tapping the surface of a tablet that Rush had given her a few days earlier.

Using the Petrus'iri database that was transferred to Destiny before the cure for the parasite was known, she translated and replaced the English letters and numbers with the corresponding symbols of the Petrus'iri writing system. Not only that, but she was able to configure the entire mainframe of the tablet to closely match that of the digitized data consoles that she was familiar with. Essentially, she upgraded the tablets hardware system to a pre-digitized data console. It was now running more efficiently than when Rush had handed it to her. She paused from her feverish typing and looked up.

"You do realize that it will be decades before he receives the message," said Terra's mother. She was standing near the window, gazing outside at the flurry of blue and green light speeding by, her arms crossed over her breast. Blue and green hues danced across her scales and her beautiful white flowing dress.

"How long have you been standing there?" asked Terra.

Her mother seemed to be a bit taken aback by her question, "You do not enjoy my presence here, do you?" Her expression saddened.

"It is not that I do not enjoy your presence here Jex'va," Terra replied. "It is the fact that you never left some sort of message telling me what had happened to you all those years ago." She returned to tapping at the tablet screen.

Her mother shook her head side to side, "I am sorry Terra, but once a being has made the choice to ascend, they are forced to break any ties to all loved ones."

Terra shook her head in disbelief, still looking down at the tablet and typing as she tapped, "Why? What sense is there in isolating oneself from everyone they have ever known and loved just to…'ascend'?" Terra shook her head again, "Whatever that may mean."

"It means," Terra's mother stated, "that one sheds his or her physical body, and live eternally as pure energy. Ascended beings live in a higher plane of existence with vast amounts of knowledge and power."

Terra stopped typing and again looked at her mother, "Then you are a spirit? You are truly dead?"

Her mother smirked, "No, I am neither dead nor a spirit. I am alive, but I am forever alive. I am unable to die since my ascension. If I had not ascended when I did, I would not have lived for much longer."

"Then you did it just so that you may live to see the end of the universe?" Terra asked bitterly. "You did it only for yourself, to keep your scientific curiosity from ever loosing its flame?"

Her mother sat down on Terra's bed next to Terra. She gazed deep into her daughter's eyes and smiled, "I did not ascend just so that I may be witness to the death of this universe, whenever that may be. I did it…so that I may watch over you. I did it to protect you, to shield you with my love." She reached up and brushed a tear away from Terra's scales with a finger.

"But you left me alone, Jex'va," Terra replied, "you left me alone in this universe."

Terra's mother shook her head, "No Terra, I did not leave you alone in this universe. The species still survives, and it shall soon flourish once again." She smiled, "Just because you are alone in the other universe, does not mean you are alone in this one. Don't let her destiny interfere with yours. But just remember this. She is not truly alone in her universe," she placed a hand on Terra's abdomen, and warmth spread through Terra's body, "she is not truly alone, and neither are you." Terra's mother turned her head to one side and glanced over her shoulder quickly. After a moment, she looked back at Terra, smiling as she stood from the bed, "Do not trouble yourself with your counterpart. Her destiny is hers, and your destiny is yours." She glanced over her shoulder again, "I'm sorry Terra, but I must go."

Terra nodded slowly, and watched as her mother quickly vanished. Suddenly, she awoke. It seemed that she had fallen asleep again. The tablet resting against her propped up legs had gone to sleep mode, the screen black. _"That's odd,"_ she thought. She was sure that she had not fallen asleep. Perhaps…it was just another dream. Terra sighed, and turned the tablet on again, and resumed tapping on the screen as she typed her farewell message to her grandfather.

ͼͽ

Dr. Weir slung a small case over her shoulder, and clipped the buckle over her breast. Even though she lived among Replicators, and she felt at home among these people, she still felt something strange about wearing her old Atlantis uniform. It felt as if she was restoring herself to full capacity every time she wore it and put the small knapsack on her back. Perhaps it's only a remnant of her former self that forces her to don these rudimentary clothes and equipment case.

She glanced at herself in a liquid mirror. The surface of the mirror was moving, albeit incomprehensibly slow. She looked at the patch on her right shoulder, the patch of the Atlantis expedition. She knew that she had at one point been in charge of the Atlantis expedition for a few years…but that woman was nothing but a ghost of the past to her. She no longer knew who that woman was. She knew only who she was now, a Replicator version of the woman Dr. Elizabeth Weir, and that had it not been for the Replicator nanites within her body, she would not be alive at this moment. She would not be in command of the whole of the Replicators' today.

And today, she was going to be in charge of another expedition. She was going to be one of the first replicators to travel through the Stargate when all nine chevrons were active. Dr. Weir was very excited by Theogret's discovery of the nine chevron gate address, but she was afraid of what may lie on the other side of the event horizon. She was…afraid. Fear. A human emotion which she still possessed despite the fact of what she is. Human emotion, was the one thing that replicators do no have in their programming, the one thing that the first humanoid Replicators failed to recreate. And no matter how many times Dr. Weir went through the process of reprogramming, her human emotions seemed impossible to overwrite or be deleted. She welcomed the emotions she felt, but she felt that they interfered with her ability to lead the Replicators. Not only that, but there are those Replicators that desired to feel human emotion. One of those Replicators was Theogret. And like Dr. Weir, he too felt human emotions, but only because he possessed a small number of cells of Dr. Weir's limbic system, the region of brain responsible for controlling emotions.

As Dr. Weir examined her reflection in the liquid mirror, Theogret burst through the doors into her quarters, causing her to jump in surprise. "Dr. Weir!" he shouted.

She turned to face him, a bit irritated that he had not requested to enter, "What is it?"

"Oh," Theogret said, realizing his mistake of barging in, "I'm sorry for entering like that. But…we have a problem. Please," he motioned her to follow him, "come with me." Dr. Weir followed behind Theogret as he led her through the maze of corridors that looked very similar to those on Atlantis. After only a few minutes of walking, they came up a door which opened upon Theogret's approach. It was a small compartment which both he and Dr. Weir stepped into. A panel on the rear wall opened to reveal a map of the entire complex. Theogret pressed his finger on the screen, and the doors closed behind him.

"Does this have anything to do with our attempt at dialing all nine chevrons?" asked Dr. Weir just as the doors fully shut.

In an instant, the doors opened again, and they stepped out into a completely different corridor. "Unfortunately yes," answered Theogret. "The ambassadors' of the southeastern and southwestern continents have not agreed to hand over their Zero Point Modules."

"And why must this involve me?"

Theogret sighed, "They say they will not hand them over unless they speak with you."

"Damn those stubborn men," Dr. Weir said bitterly. "What is it they want to talk to me about?"

Theogret stopped and turned to face Dr. Weir, "Human emotion."

Dr. Weir gave him a skeptical look, "You're serious?"

Theogret nodded, "Very serious indeed. That is what they told me."

Dr. Weir sighed and rubbed her eyes. _"I knew something like this was going to happen."_ She looked back up at Theogret and nodded, "Fine. Go and retrieve the cultures. Meet me outside the council hall. We'll give them what they want."

Theogret nodded and headed back to where they came from.

Dr. Weir sighed again, _"I'm not going to debate with them this time,"_ she thought to herself. Since the day that Dr. Weir had allowed Theogret to extract a few brain cells from her limbic system, culture them and apply them to his Replicator brain, those two ambassadors' desired the same thing. Every moment spent with those two turned into hours of heated debating on the subject of receiving only a few of her limbic system brain cells.

Theogret had only been somewhat of an experiment, to see whether or not it would actually work. It did work, but there were still some problems with the cells mingling with his Replicator brain. Dr. Weir was not about ready to give away her brain cells to those two men, but the dialing of all nine chevrons was of the utmost importance, and their ZPM's were needed in order for that to be accomplished. No more debates with those two were going to prevent this mission from happening.

Dr. Weir resumed walking to her destination, the council hall. This was the usual debating room between Dr. Weir and the two ambassadors'. As she walked, she reminisced about her old days working on Atlantis as the leader of the scientific expedition. She longed to return to the city, but she knew it was impossible. Everyone she knew had come to accept her as being dead. Even if she somehow managed to return to Atlantis, no one would trust her, for she was still half Replicator. She thought of her days spent wondering through the halls of the Ancient city, exploring the different rooms and corridors. She thought about her room where she worked and her desk, just outside the control room and above the gate room. She shook her head. Those days were long gone, and she'll never be able to relive them. She'll never be able to return to the city she had loved for so long before she was taken over by the Replicator nanites. It seems that her fantasy of returning to Atlantis would remain just that; a fantasy.

ͼͽ

Not long after entering the council hall with Theogret did Dr. Weir exit with two ZPMs in hand.

Theogret laughed as they began walking to their next destination, the central square where the gate stood, "Even though they are Replicators, they still seemed to express joy once they each received the cell cultures."

Dr. Weir nodded as they descended a flight of stairs and exited the council hall, entering a large open courtyard. In this courtyard, hundreds of other Replicators had gathered. The central square was crowded with Replicators' and supply crates. "I'm just glad that we're finally able to get these ZPMs…and that those two decided not to come on this mission." Theogret chuckled at that. "Now, we can finally get this mission started. It's time the Replicator nation extended its reach further into this universe."

She and Theogret navigated through the maze of supply crates. After a few minutes of traversing through the maze and avoiding colliding with other Replicators around each corner, they at last reached the pedestal the gate stood on. There were nine small columns that stood in a circle around the Stargate along the perimeter of the pedestal. On top of seven of these columns, a ZPM stood.

Dr. Weir turned to gazed back over the maze of supply crates. Already, a crowd of Replicators began to form around the base of the pedestal beneath her. She glanced over at Theogret, "I highly doubt we're going to need all these supply crates, as well as all these people. I said to take only necessary supplies and personnel, not everything there is." She handed him one of the ZPMs.

Theogret sighed as he took the ZPM, "Very well Dr."

Dr. Weir turned her attention back to the growing crowd of Replicators, "People of New Asuras! I have something very important to say!" Dr. Weir spoke loudly. "Today is a historical day in Replicator history! Today marks the day when Replicators shall move beyond the boundaries of this galaxy, and into the unknown that is this universe! Where are we going exactly? That will remain a mystery until we step through that gate after all nine chevrons have been activated! Today, is the day when the Replicator nation shall not only encompass this galaxy, but whatever galaxy this address shall take us, and perhaps to other galaxies beyond!"

ͼͽ

Greer had pulled the individual through the gate enough to finally expose some distinctive clothing. Vitero-Eli called out, "Hey! That's my sweater!"

"Could that really be Eli?" asked Young.

"It has to be," Chloe stated, "That's definitely his sweater!"

"We won't know for sure until Sgt. Greer pulls them through," Sam said. "For all we know, it's just a human at this point."

Greer strained as he relentlessly pulled on the hand, "God damn it!" he growled. "It feels like I'm trying to pull a sixteen-wheeler through." He gritted his teeth. His muscles were beginning to ache and burn. Suddenly, he felt a surge of energy flow through his muscles, and the adrenalin kicked in. He felt…like a superhuman. With a mighty growl, he heaved with all his newfound strength.

The individual began to slip through the gate. First, a shoulder and torso. Then, a foot and the rest of a leg. Finally, a face emerged.

It was Eli.

Chloe let out a sigh of relief and exclaimed with joy, "It's Eli!"

Vitero-Eli stared at his counterparts face. "That's…me?"

But as Greer pulled Eli through the gate, something else emerged through the event horizon.

"What…the hell is that?" Scott asked in disgust. It looked like a large black tentacle had wrapped itself under Eli's left arm and around his neck. It seemed to be coated in a black and slimy substance, which had also smeared all over the upper half of Eli's shirt and sweater.

"Oh no," Addamo said, "I was hoping it wouldn't be like this."

Young eyed Addamo with a bit of suspicion, "What is it?"

"The Jovorda parasite that's completely covered the face of that planet," Addamo replied. "The parasite somehow managed to incorporate nanite technology into its genetic makeup years ago, and it began to grow and develop a conscience. Soon, it had completely taken over the planet. The Petrus'iri race deemed it a forbidden world and removed the gate address from all address databases."

"So…what is the parasite trying to do?" Scott asked, not taking his eyes off of the black tendril.

"If it succeeds in pulling him back through," Addamo stated as he looked on at the gate, "it'll assimilate him, and turn him into a walking hunk of flesh that has only one thing on its mind. The assimilation of every living thing in the galaxy."

Scott glanced at Addamo, a bit worried.

"That ain't gonna happen on my watch!" Greer shouted. By now, he had completely pulled Eli through. He continued to pull, exposing more and more of the black tendril. And suddenly, without warning the tendril was severed. Eli was sent flying forwards with the black tendril as Greer disappeared in a blur of motion. No sooner had the tendril been severed, the gate deactivated.

"Get that thing off him!" Young ordered.

Scott and several other marines rushed over to Eli as he struggled to toss the tendril off of himself. They struggled to get a grip and heave the massive slippery tendril off Eli. Not only was it slick with slime and heavy, but it was also thrashing around. The end of the tendril whipped Scott across the face and knocked two marines backwards onto the floor. Scott wiped the black slime from his cheek, and grabbed the end of the tendril as the other marines finally managed to grab the rest of it. Together, they heaved the heavy tendril off of Eli and tossed it aside. The tendril continued to thrash for a few more moments before it finally came to a rest.

"Eli!" Chloe shouted and ran over to Eli.

Eli sat up as Chloe slid on her knees into Eli's open arms, hugged him tightly, "Hey! Long time no see!"

"Man," Scott said, "we thought we'd never find you."

"Turns out we didn't have to find him," Young said as he stepped forward. He held out a hand, which Eli promptly took hold of, and Young helped him to his feet. "Good to see you're still alive."

"Good to be back," Eli said smiling as familiar faces began to crowd around him. He and Young hugged one another. It was a welcome back party like no other. Rush remained standing at the gate control panel, smiling as he observed the joyous reunion.

"You're not going to go welcome him back, Dr. Rush?" asked Sam.

"Hm?" Rush said as he turned his attention to Sam. "Oh, yes of course. I'll just wait until it's my turn." He turned his attention back to the reunion party. Everyone was patting Eli on his shoulders and backs, welcoming him back and telling him how much he had been missed.

Vitero-Eli stared in awe at the spectacle. "That's me?" he asked again.

Addamo let out a short laugh at that, "Were you expecting something else?"

Vitero-Eli shook his head, "No, that's not what I meant." He observed everyone's reaction to Eli's return, "I'm…popular in this universe?"

Rush chuckled at that, "That's not exactly what's happening here. In this universe, we're all a family. We've all put aside our differences, and we've formed our bonds with one another. We no longer hold any secrets from one another, and we all treat one another as if we are all part of a big family."

Suddenly, Greer and Tarvock appeared out of thin air next to Sam. "One big family, huh?" Tarvock said as Greer went to join the others. He and Addamo looked at one another, "A universe very similar, yet very different."

This puzzled Sam and she turned her head towards Tarvock, "What do you mean? Aren't you just as close to one another in your universe?"

Tarvock watched as Eli and Greer shook hands with one another before they hugged each other, "We do have bonds with one another, yes…but…"

Addamo finished Tarvock's sentence, "In our universe…there is no family on board Destiny. We're just comrades."

"'Set aside your differences'," Vitero-Eli said to himself.

Rush nodded, "Aye. Young and I no longer quarrel with one another, and Varro has been accepted by everyone. No one sees him as a threat anymore."

"What about Ginn and…the other me?" Vitero-Eli asked.

The smile faded from Rush's face, "While Ginn exchanged bodies with Dr. Perry…Simeon killed her."

Vitero-Eli's ears dropped back against his head as he looked back towards his human counterpart, "Then…he probably feels alone without her. I would. I wish I could've met Ginn's human-self."

"What did you do about Simeon?" asked Tarvock.

Rush did not answer immediately. He only watched on for a few moments before answering, "I tracked him down on a desert world and killed him." With that, Rush turned and left the gate room. He quickly walked down the hallway, turned a corner and was gone.

"That means…" Addamo began, but was unable to finish his sentence.

"That in this universe," Tarvock continued Addamo's sentence, "Dr. Perry is also dead."

"Not exactly," Young said as he walked up to them, "it turns out both of their conscience's were trapped inside the stone they used to switch bodies. Both of them began to share Chloe's body, which came near to killing her. So, we had their consciences downloaded into Destiny."

"They're both in the ship?" Vitero-Eli said, his ears pricked forward.

"In a way, yeah," Young answered with a nod. "But when Rush decided to spend time with Dr. Perry via the Chair by downloading his entire conscience, things started to get a bit complicated. We damn near couldn't upload his mind back into his head. But Eli figured it out." He glanced back at Eli, "But as a consequence, Eli had to quarantine both of their consciences inside Destiny's mainframe. So, there's no way to talk to them at all anymore."

"Then it affects both of them," Tarvock stated. "Both feel the pain of losing someone close to them, someone they loved."

Young nodded, "Yeah. It was hard seeing both of them depressed. Rush nearly lost it after Eli made the hard decision to quarantine both Ginn and Dr. Perry's consciences." Young turned as Eli approached them, Greer at his side with his arm over Eli's shoulders.

"Col.," said Eli, "who…I mean what are these things?"

"Believe it or not," Greer answered, "this guy right here is you." He pointed at Vitero-Eli.

Vitero-Eli only waved in response, unable to find the words to say hello to his human counterpart.

"That's…me?" Eli asked, a bit confused.

"That's exactly what I said," Vitero-Eli replied with a slight smile.

"Okay," Eli said, even more confused now after recognizing the voice as his own, "this day just keeps getting weirder. So then, what are you?"

"How about we explain everything over lunch?" Young asked. "You're probably hungry after a week being with those aliens."

"Is it alright if we join you, Col.?" asked Addamo.

Young thought for a moment before giving his answer, "Sure, why not? You guys have been out for while. You might as well eat something too." With that, everyone headed towards the mess hall. The family had once again become whole with the return of Eli. With the gate deactivated, and Eli safe at home once more, Destiny jumped back into FTL.

ͼͽ

Dr. Weir waited patiently as Theogret and a group of other scientists checked and rechecked that all nine of the ZPMs were fully functional and sending power to the gate.

Theogret jumped from behind one of his colleagues and quickly walked over to Dr. Weir. He handed her a small tablet, which displayed the results of their checking, "We might have a problem." He pointed to a set of numbers on the screen. "All ZPMs are functioning properly, and they are all fully powered. But-"

Dr. Weir finished his sentence, "There's only enough power to maintain a stable wormhole for two minutes. How much power is required to dial all nine chevrons?"

Theogret shrugged, "That, I am uncertain of. Perhaps the wormhole might very well send us to the other side of the universe, who knows. All I know is that all of the simulations of dialing all nine chevrons result in a two minute stable wormhole. But this will drain the ZPMs of all their power. And there will only be enough time to send a few people and supplies through."

"Then we can't afford to waste time sending the micro probes through," Dr. Weir responded.

"We're going to have to do this blind," Theogret said in agreement. Both he and Dr. Weir looked up at the gate.

Dr. Weir nodded, "Fine. Take only your best men, and only the _most_ necessary equipment. We won't be able to take everyone and everything. Have a messenger spread the word to everyone here."

Theogret nodded, and left her standing at the top of the pedestal. Theogret's colleagues still continued to check simulations of the dialing sequence and energy consumption.

Dr. Weir gazed up at the gate. The setting sun was positioned so that it would set in the very center of the Stargate as it disappeared behind the mountains in the horizon. The time to begin was fast approaching. She sighed, _"Just like in Atlantis, there is always a problem with these missions."_

Soon, the people crowded around the base of the pedestal began to disperse. A few more minutes, and almost no one was left standing at the base of the pedestal. Only Theogret remained as he conversed with another Replicator. He nodded, and the Replicator left him, and he ascended the steps of the pedestal. He stood beside Dr. Weir, "It's always magnificent, seeing that red star setting within the Stargate."

Dr. Weir nodded, "Yes. On Earth, the setting Sun isn't as spectacular as our star."

"You miss your true home, don't you?" asked Theogret as he glanced at Dr. Weir.

She didn't answer immediately. She thought back to her days living on the planet Earth, which she once called home. She thought back to her childhood days, when she would visit her grandparents in their country home. "I do, sometimes. I do miss the smell of the country. We don't have that here."

Theogret nodded, "I can only imagine what the country side looks like, as I have never seen undeveloped land before."

"That is why we must expand our reach," Dr. Weir said. "There are too many Replicator worlds in this galaxy, and too many Replicators."

Theogret glanced at Dr. Weir again, "You're not thinking that by going through the gate with only a few of us, we'll be in an Adam and Eve situation, do you?"

"That's what it will most likely come to," answered Dr. Weir.

One of the scientists turned and nodded at Theogret, who nodded back. "Right, we're ready to begin."

"Go and choose who will go with us," Dr. Weir said as she turned and began to descend the steps of the pedestal, "and have them each carry one container of equipment. We're traveling light this time."

ͼͽ

"So, let me get this straight," Eli said as he put his fork down on his plate. He pointed at Vitero-Eli, Addamo, Tarvock and Sam, who was still in Riverstone's body. All four of them sat across the table from him, "You four aren't from a parallel universe, but a perpendicular one. And in your universe, humans don't exist, but your species takes the place of humans?"

Vitero-Eli, Addamo and Tarvock all nodded in response.

Eli looked at Dr. Park, who was sitting next to him at the table, "Where did this perpendicular universe theory even come from?"

"Dr. Rush actually mentioned it," Dr. Park answered. "If you think about it, it kinda makes sense."

"Similar in many ways," Tarvock added to Dr. Parks sentence, "yet different in many ways as well."

"And," Greer said leaning over Eli's shoulder, "you're technically related to the other you."

"But then…" Eli said as he thought about his question carefully before continuing, "Where are you two and your General in this universe? And if you're universe is three weeks ahead of ours…which one's the first universe?"

All eyes turned to Tarvock. He was silent for a moment before he realized everyone was waiting for him to say something, "What? You think I know the answer to that question?"

"We thought you would know," Vitero-Eli said. "You are an android."

"I'm a bio-android, Eli," Tarvock responded. "and that doesn't mean that I know everything there is to know about the universe…or, all the universes' for that matter." Tarvock pondered for a moment before adding to his statement, "But I just might be able to calculate the exact age of this universe if I had a look through this ships databases." He turned an eye towards Young.

Young shook his head, "Absolutely not."

Tarvock shrugged, "Oh well, then I can't answer that question for the time being."

"You still don't trust us, do you Everett?" Addamo asked.

"Please," Young replied in frustration, "stop calling me by my first name. You may know me, but I don't know you."

Addamo bowed his head, "Yes sir, Col."

"But Col.," said Sam, "You obviously do trust them enough to let them walk around this ship."

"That wasn't my call," Young answered.

"But you still do trust them," Sam said again. "You let one of men use Col. Addamo's star crystal."

Addamo nodded, "It is the most powerful object in our universe…and probably the most powerful object this universe has seen. And you let one of _your_ men use it."

Young shook his head, "You've only been walking around this ship a little over a day or two. I'm not about ready to give you my full trust and give you access to key systems to this ship."

Addamo nodded, "Good point."

"Speakin' of crystals," Greer said as he touched the blue gem which still hung from his neck, "when can I take this thing off?"

"Not for another twenty-three hours, Sgt.," Addamo replied. "Since you made a wish an hour ago, the parasite needs to become accustomed to your energy before you can urge it off."

While Addamo continued to explain to everyone around the table about the star heart crystal, Lt. James radioed Young, "Col. Young, this is Lt. James."

Young stepped off to one side as he spoke into his radio, "Go ahead."

"Dr. McKay is on board," James responded over the radio. "He's switched bodies with Lt. Scott. He wants to talk with you."

"Understood," Young replied into his radio, "I'm on my way."

ͼͽ

Young entered the stones room, and greeted McKay with a hand shake, "Dr. McKay, you wanted to speak with me?"

"Ah yes," McKay said as he shook Young's hand. "I need to see your FTL drives, see the brains behind the drives."

"Why's that Dr.?" Young asked, a bit confused by McKay's request.

"We found something on Atlantis," McKay replied, "that might help us reach you one day."

Young was about to respond when suddenly, Destiny dropped out of FTL once more. Young's radio crackled, "Col. Young, this is Brody, come in."

Young raised his radio and responded, "Go ahead."

"Someone's dialing the gate…again," Brody's voice responded.

This got McKay's attention, "Again?"

"Come on, Dr. McKay," Young said as he turned to head towards the gate room.

Dr. McKay was hot on his heels.

ͼͽ

"So far, so good," Theogret said as he dialed the sixth symbol.

"Looks like your address _is_ working," said one of the male Replicators that Theogret had chosen to accompany him and Dr. Weir on the mission. Along with three other female Replicators and another male Replicator, they each had a backpack of supplies slung over their backs, and a crate of equipment in their hands.

"Let's just hope the rest of the address works," said a female Replicator.

Theogret dialed the seventh symbol, and the seventh chevron lit up, indicating it had locked. He and Dr. Weir glanced at one another. A crowd of Replicators began to form around the base of the pedestal once more, intent on witnessing a historical event. The eighth symbol was dialed, and the eighth chevron lit up. Suddenly the ground began to shake. Dr. Weir was a bit frightened by the shaking, the other five Replicators with her each took a step backwards. But Dr. Weir remained where she stood beside Theogret.

As Theogret dialed the ninth symbol in his address, the ground began to shake violently. Some remaining crates of equipment that were still left stacked around the pedestal toppled to the ground, causing some Replicators to scramble out of the way. As the ninth chevron lit up, just as suddenly as it started, the shaking stopped. For a moment, nothing happened.

Dr. Weir and Theogret looked at one another, both holding their breaths. Then, the gate activated, and a wormhole was established. Dr. Weir let out a sigh of relief, and gasped in awe as she witnessed the first gate in the Pegasus galaxy establish a wormhole using a nine symbol address. She ordered Theogret's colleagues to walk through the wormhole first. As they quickly made their way through the gate, she stood in front of the gate with Theogret at her side. Her heart was fluttering as she watched the shimmering surface of the event horizon.

"Nervous?" Theogret asked. Dr. Weir nodded. "As am I," he said. And with that, he stepped through the gate.

With one last glance over her shoulder, Dr. Weir burned the sight of the Replicator city around her into her memories. She turned back, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and stepped through the gate. When she opened her eyes, she was taken by surprise by what she saw.

Theogret and the other Replicators were on their knees with their hands behind their heads, facing her. She saw humans pointing automatic weapons at their heads. The gate deactivated behind her. There was no where for her to run now.

"Elizabeth?" McKay exclaimed in complete and total shock. Of all the creatures that could have walked through the gate, he was not expecting Replicators. Neither had he expected to see Dr. Weir.

Dr. Weir did not recognize the face of the man who said her name, but she immediately recognized the accent he had spoken with. "Rodney?"

Å

End Chapter 5


	6. Trust

**2/14/2012**

**Hey fellow SGU fans! It's sheesh again, and this time I'm bringing you what I think is my best chapter yet! At least, I feel it's my best chapter yet as it's my favorite chapter. Careful readers will notice that there has been a change in my writing style. I will tell you, yes there has been a change in my writing style. Why has there been a change? Because I felt the need to do so. I felt my previous chapters were...dull. And too much talking was going on in each chapter. So, to bring you guys a better reading experience I changed that. I decided that I was going to start writing more like a professional writer would. I have been reading a book recently, and I noticed how drastically different my way of writing was compared to what a real writer writes. I have too much dialogue in my previous five chapters, and little action going on. So, I became serious, and focused on trying to bring you guys the Stargate action that you all know and love, and miss! Chapter 6, Trust may be a short chapter, but there's a lot of action-packed goodness in all that shortness, so to speak. This is by far th closest I could write to what a professional writer does, and you know what? I'm kinda happy with the way it came out. From here on out, there will be the Stargate action that everyone is craving for. Also, from now on, future chapters will remain short, so there won't be anymore 3 month long or 4 month long wait between each chapter. I will try to reduce that to about a 3 to 4 week long wait, get those action-packed chapters out to you guys as soon as possible, while still focusing on my classes. Well, that's all I have to announce for now! Enjoy the read guys!**

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><p><em>Hello fans of Stargate Universe. The name's sheesh.<em>

_This is the story of our friends onboard the Destiny, 3 years after they made the fateful FTL jump from one galaxy, to another. We follow them as their jouney continues through this new, and strange galaxy. What mysteries await them? What sort of alien species will they encounter, and wil they be hostile? And what has become of the one man we have come to know and love as the incredibly smart, Eli Wallace? Has he survived the jump? Or did the crew wake up too late? To find out the answers to these questions, read the story that could have been, the story that many of us SGU fans would love to see finished._

_This is a fan fiction that I have been working on for the last few months. Forgive me if you see mistakes here and there, as I have been a novice writer for about 6 years now. Since I learned while watching the season 2 finale that there would no longer be new episodes, I was haunted with many, many questions about where the story of the Destiny would go, and what would become of the characters we have come to love. After giving it some thought, I decided I would write my take on a season 3 of Stargate Universe. This is a fan fiction, written by a fan, for the fans. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. This is the biggest project I've ever done. Please, I only ask one thing from those of you who read it...**REVIEWS!** Again, I'm still a novice writer, and I need...would like reviews from other fans ands readers about my writings. If there is something that you did or did not like, please tell me in your review, so that I may improve upon it in future chapters. Again, **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_

**Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum**

**This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.**

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><p>126/2012

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

Trust

Riverstone peered around a corner into a hallway that ran passed the Gate room. An overturned table lay in the middle of the hallway just before the door that led into the Gate room. Three Lucians sat crouched behind the table, their weapons pointed down the hallway in the direction of Riverstone. Behind them, two Lucians wrestled with the paneling of the controls to the blast door. Riverstone withdrew her head behind the corner again. She cast a glance at Sheppard, who stood with his back against the wall next to her, "There's a table in the hallway…where the hell did they get a table from?"

Sheppard shrugged, "Beats me."

Riverstone shook her head, "Never mind." She motioned at the marine next to Sheppard, "Lieutenant, do you still have any flash bangs' left?"

The marine undid the velcro flap on one of the pockets on his vest. He reached in but withdrew his hand just as quickly. He reached into another pocket on his vest, and pulled out one single cylinder that was a flash bang. He held his hand out to Riverstone. "It's my last one," he said.

She looked at him as if he were stupid, "Don't look at me Lieutenant. Do it yourself; toss it over that table."

The marine appeared a bit embarrassed as he stepped around Sheppard and Riverstone. He pulled the pin on the device, and quickly stepped from behind the corner. He threw it in a low arc towards the Lucians, just barely missing the ceiling of the hallway. The flash bang hit one of the Lucians trying to pry the paneling off the controls on the shoulder, and dropped to the concrete floor with a soft metallic ring. All five Lucians turned their heads towards the source of the sound. As soon as all eyes fell upon the device, it detonated, producing a bright blinding light. All the Lucians shouted in surprise as their visions turned to nothing but whiteness.

"Let's go!" Riverstone shouted as she ran around the corner with Sheppard close behind. The other three marines followed soon after. Sheppard quickly pulled ahead of her, and vaulted over the table, knocking two of the Lucians to the ground. He grabbed the Lucian nearest him, and shoved him flat against the ground, knocking the weapon out of the man's hand. Riverstone jumped over the edge of the table, pinned the second Lucian Sheppard had knocked over and detained him. The three marines did the same with the last three Lucians.

"Let us go!" shouted one of the Lucians as he struggled in his restrains. "The Kora are going to kill us!" Sheppard tried to explain calmly to the panicking Lucians that the Kora were dead, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the Lucians continued to struggle.

"Colonel, forget it," Riverstone said to Sheppard over the shouts of the Lucians, "They'll never believe us."

Sheppard nodded, "Yeah." He reached his hand up to the radio strapped to his vest and pressed the button to talk, "Col. Mitchell, this is Sheppard. We've got the one's that escaped earlier. How's it going on your end?"

At first, there was static, and then the sound of gunfire erupted from Sheppard's walkie, "We're pinned down! The last of the Lucians have us blocked in outside the control room! We could really use some help over here!"

One of the marine's put restraints around the ankles of each of the detained men. He looked up at Sheppard when he was done, "General, Colonel, we can handle it from here."

Sheppard nodded, as did Riverstone. They both stepped over the table and quickly dashed back down the way they came. They rounded a corner, and Sheppard nearly collided with another marine. "Colonel, you two heard?"

Sheppard called over his shoulder as they continued, "We're on our way now. You go on and help Madison with the Lucians!"

The marine nodded and called after Sheppard, "Yes sir!"

As they rounded the second corner, Riverstone suddenly began to slow down before eventually coming to a halt. She bent forwards, panting heavily. Sheppard skidded to a halt as he turned back to look at Riverstone, "General, are you alright?"

Riverstone nodded, "I'm fine, Col. I'm just not used to this body's low stamina level." She panted, her breath short and laborious. "You humans aren't very advanced in terms of physical fitness."

Sheppard shrugged as she straightened up again, "I guess that's just part of being human."

"Even so," Riverstone said between breaths, "I'm surprised that Col. Carter's body has managed to keep up with me this long."

"About that. Do you really move that fast in your real body? As fast as you were moving while fighting that…whatever you call it?"

Riverstone nodded, "Much faster than this body is capable of moving." She and Sheppard resumed running down the hallways and around corners. They rounded the last corner and quickly took cover behind the curved columns that supported the ceiling as they were met with enemy fire. Riverstone motioned for Sheppard to provide cover fire for her. Sheppard nodded, and quickly turned around the corner and fired his P90 towards the Lucians. Bullets glanced off of the overturned tables and the concrete floor. Two Lucians dropped to the ground as they were struck by ricocheting bullets.

Riverstone peered around the corner of her hiding spot, counting the number of enemies that were left. _Six…eight…fifteen left._ She pulled her head back as enemy fire was directed at her and Sheppard. Sheppard pulled himself behind the corner again. He looked down at his left shoulder, and Riverstone saw streams of blood running down his biceps. The smell of iron filled her nostrils as something warm trickled down her face. She reached up to her left cheek. Wiping at the warm substance and glancing down at her hand, she realized it was blood. She had also been grazed by a bullet. _These humans are very fragile. I have to be careful, or else their Col. Carter could end up dead_, she thought to herself. She pulled the magazine out of her Heckler & Koch MP7 and checked how much ammo she had left. She checked the pockets of her vest for anymore magazines. She had only one full magazine left. Replacing the magazine back into the MP7, she readied herself. She nodded at Sheppard. Simultaneously, they both jumped out from their hiding spots, their weapons blazing. Two Lucians clutched their chests and another dropped to the floor like a stone as Riverstone put a bullet in his head. Together, they advanced to the next set of supports.

Riverstone peered around the corner again. _Twelve enemies left._ Two more Lucians dropped to the floor as they were hit with gunfire from Mitchell's group. _Ten left._ She checked her magazine, which had only about a quarter of the ammo left. _I should have enough left to take down six of them_, she thought to herself. "Sheppard, how much you have left?"

Sheppard checked his magazine, then his pockets. "My last full mag," he shouted in response over the loud gunfire.

_Damn it_, Riverstone thought as she peered around the corner.

Sheppard spoke into his walkie, "Mitchell, you better have enough ammo over there! We're running out fast!"

Mitchell's voice responded, "We're running out too!"

Sheppard cursed. He looked at Riverstone, and nodded. Again, they jumped from behind their hiding spots with guns blazing. Sheppard dropped three Lucians, while Riverstone dropped one more. Then Sheppard fell to the floor as he himself was hit, twice.

"Sheppard!" Riverstone shouted as she crossed the hallway over to where he lay. She could hear the enemy bullets whizzing passed her head as she crossed the hallway in two bounds. She grabbed Sheppard by the shoulder of his vest and dragged him behind the next corner. She hid herself behind it as well just as enemy fire peppered the other side of the support column. Sheppard coughed and grunted in pain with each breath. "Where'd you get hit?" Riverstone asked as she tossed aside her empty magazine and replaced it with her last one. Sheppard pointed to his abdomen and the hole in the left shoulder of his vest, just below his left collar bone. "You've done well, Sheppard. Let me handle the rest."

"No," Sheppard grunted loudly as he struggled to his feet, "I'm fine. I can finish this."

Riverstone didn't argue with him, because the Sheppard she knew would have said the same thing. She only helped him to his feet, "Try not to get anymore bullets in you," she said. "I'm pretty sure one Ronin is enough, especially in this universe."

Sheppard managed a smirk and painful chuckle, "I can't imagine what it would be like with two Ronin's."

Riverstone peered around the corner as Mitchell's group fired upon the Lucians again. A Lucian hiding behind the corner of the hallway was hit in the leg, but he did not drop. He only seemed to become angry with whoever shot him, so he responded with continuous fire. Riverstone reached over with her left hand and pulled the Berretta 92FS out of its holster on the right side of her waist. She aimed the pistol at the Lucian she observed getting hit, and fired. Blood spattered onto the wall on his left as he reached up and clamped his hand over his right ear. Then, he crumpled to the floor, dead. She replaced her Berretta back into its holster. "Now!" she said to Sheppard as she jumped out from behind the support.

Sheppard whirled around the corner and fired upon the Lucians, as did Riverstone as she quickly bound across the hallway to the last decent hiding spot behind a support. She was able to see the Lucians, but they couldn't see her. She reached around the corner with her MP7 in her right hand, and fired at the closest Lucian. Parts of the man's clothing burst off him as he was hit multiple. He fell to the floor, but was not dead. He pulled out a pistol, and fired at Riverstone. One bullet grazed the back of her hand, and another grazed her right elbow.

Riverstone gasped in pain as she quickly pulled her arm back around the corner. She shook her hand as the pain began to burn. _These humans are ridiculously delicate. I'm surprised that Sheppard managed to survive being shot twice._ She winced as she licked the blood off of her trigger hand, _Very thin and delicate skin._ She grimaced in distaste, and spit the blood out onto the concrete floor. Human blood was acidic compared to her own blood._ Makes me wonder how these creatures managed to survive in the wild after they evolved._ She peered around and counted the number of Lucians left. Two more Lucians fell to the floor, dead, and the man that Riverstone had fired at just before had crawled over to his last three comrades. She reached up for her walkie and pressed the button to talk, "Teal'c, can you provide some cover fire for me?"

There was a brief pause as Mitchell's group fired upon the Lucian's again before Teal'c responded, "Indeed."

Riverstone smirked. This may be an alternate universe of her own, but she's come to realize that unlike every other universe she's already encountered, in this universe everyone is exactly the same as their counterparts of her universe. As she spun around the corner, Teal'c provided the cover fire she had asked for. She darted behind one of the overturned tables, Sheppard joining her by her side.

"What's the plan General?" Sheppard asked as Riverstone removed the magazine from the MP7 and checked how much ammo she had left. Sheppard did the same.

Riverstone returned the magazine back into the MP7, "We light 'em up. I've got half a mag. How much do you have?"

"Half a mag," Sheppard replied.

Riverstone cursed silently, but maintained her composure, "Good enough. Should be enough to take the rest of them down." She peered around the edge o the table, then looked back at Sheppard, who stood ready on his knees, "You ready?"

Sheppard nodded, "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's go," said Riverstone. She quickly jumped to her feet and fired on the Lucians. Sheppard stood up on his knees and joined Riverstone on her assault. The Lucians barely had any time to react to their assault as they were already focused on Teal'c's assault. The two men standing were hit but did not fall to the floor, while the one on the floor returned fire.

Just as Sheppard's and Riverstone's ammo ran out, Teal'c jumped over an overturned table and grabbed the nearest wounded Lucian by the throat and forced him down to the floor violently, his neck snapping. Riverstone tossed her MP7 aside, and in less than three seconds, had pulled herself over the table, drop-kicked the Lucian on the floor in the side of the head, and tackled the last Lucian who was aiming his weapon at Teal'c's head. The force of her tackled had knocked the weapon out of his hand, and his head snapped back as his back slammed into the wall behind him. As he struggled under Riverstone's brutish strength, she growled at him. "Enough!" she growled, baring her teeth at him. Then she remembered she wasn't in her real body, and lowered her lips down.

Seeing her bare her teeth at him, the Lucian was surprised by that, and her brute strength. "What are you?" the Lucian asked.

"I am neither human," Riverstone answered, "nor am I from this universe."

Teal'c stood up and stepped next to Riverstone, "She is the one that defeated the Kora."

"What?" the Lucian exclaimed. "That's impossible! The Three Kora are invincible! No one can defeat them! You lie!"

Mitchell, who was holding his left shoulder tightly, "C'mon pal, that's Teal'c you're talkin' to. Teal'c would never lie."

"The goa'uld known as Oma Ki'goa'uld, no longer draws breath," Teal'c spoke calmly. "General Riverstone easily defeated her. There is nothing for you to fear anymore."

"Well," Mitchell said, "not the ugly scaly thing anymore. But he's gonna be scared of Area 51 when he gets there."

"But how can a mere woman defeat the mighty Kora?" the Lucian asked, still skeptical. "Especially Oma Kora? She's the god of the goa'uld! No body can touch her."

"She was but a false god," Teal'c said. "She may have been the first Goa'uld to be born into this universe, but she was no god. She was just as mortal as the other false gods we have defeated."

Ronin limped over to them as well, "You want proof she's dead?" He pulled his sword out of its sheath on his back and held it out for the Lucian to see. Its whole surface was coated with the thick black substance that was the blood of the Unas controlled by the mother of all goa'uld, Oma Ki'goa'uld.

The Lucian watched as a few drops of the thick blood dripped off of the surface of the blade and fell to the concrete floor.

"And again," Riverstone said, frustrated that she's had to repeat herself many times, "I'm not human. I'm a Viterosaur, and I'm from another universe."

The Lucian averted his eyes from Riverstone, still unable to believe that the Three Kora were really dead, and defeated by a female. "I require proof!" He started to struggle again.

Mitchell sighed as Teal'c was about to retort, "Forget it Teal'c. He's not going to believe us." Mitchell motioned for the marine's behind the overturned tables to come over and restrain the remaining Lucians still alive. He turned back to Teal'c, "We'll just have to show him the proof he wants." He paused as he thought for a moment, and then continued, "We might as well show all of his friends."

ͼͽ

"You know those people?" Terra asked. She peered through the porthole in the door that she, Rodney, Rush, Young and Col. Addamo stood in front of.

Rodney nodded, "Oh, I know them alright. I destroyed their home planet. And…that woman right there," he pointed at Dr. Weir, "used to be on our side…she used to be entirely human, and she's the one that lead the Atlantis expedition."

"Used to be?" Terra asked, turning to look at McKay quizzically. "What is she now?"

"Elizabeth suffered a severe injury when we tried to escape an assault by the Asurans," McKay said as he motioned at the people in the white clothing inside the room. "So we had to use some technology from the Asurans to help revive her. The Asurans aren't human…we call them Replicators."

"How the hell did they get here?" Addamo asked bluntly. Four marines with assault rifles stood behind Addamo.

"This hasn't happened in your universe?" asked Rush as he cast a look at Addamo.

The Viterosaur shook his head, "No. I didn't even think for a moment this would have happened in your universe." His eyes darted from Rush, to Young, and then to McKay, "Have we really changed the future of your universe this much?"

"It would seem so," Rush said. "But you must remember, Col. Addamo, you are from a perpendicular universe, not a parallel universe. There's a difference between the two."

Addamo nodded, "I know, but that doesn't change the fact that we changed the course of events by coming here."

"It was unavoidable, Col.," Terra said. Addamo turned an eye towards her. "There was no way you could have known you would be transported to another universe. Perhaps…you were meant to arrive in this universe. Perhaps, it was destiny that brought you here, and it was destined to happen that these people would show up."

Addamo nodded, "Maybe…but that still doesn't explain how they managed to get here…I'm pretty sure there's no way that Dr. Weir could have known about Destiny." He looked back at McKay, "What do you think Rodney?"

McKay shrugged, "I'm not so sure. I can't even figure out how they knew which symbols on the Pegasus gate to dial to connect with Destiny's gate. There's no way they knew about Destiny. But how they got Destiny's address, I don't know."

A knock came from the door, and all eyes turned towards the porthole window. A face with glasses peered back at them.

Young nodded at the marines, and they quickly changes their positions from behind Addamo to in front of the door. Terra backed away from the door, as did Rodney. Two marines stood in front of the door, their weapons pointing at the door, while the other two stood on either side of the door, out of view of the porthole. The marine closest to the door controls glanced back at Young. "Open it," Young said.

The marine smacked the button to open the door, and readied his weapon. The gears in the door turned loudly, and the door opened. All four marines jumped in the doorway as the door completely opened. The Asuran who had peered back at them through the porthole, held his hands up in the air as he backed up.

"I only wish to speak with your superior!" the man exclaimed.

Dr. Weir stepped beside him, "Theogret, let me handle this."

"Elizabeth-" Theogret began to protest, but she held up a hand, silencing him. He backed away from the door and stood behind her. The other Asurans stood next to him to observe.

"I demand to know where we are," Dr. Weir said with an air of authority.

The two marines directly in front of her parted to make room for Young, "Dr. Weir, I'm Col. Everett Young. I'm in charge here. And you're on the Ancient ship Destiny."

The word 'Ancient' caught Elizabeth's attention immediately, "Ancient?"

Rush stepped from around one of the marine's and stood next to Young, "Dr. Weir, how did know the address to dial Destiny?"

Dr. Weir held up a hand, "Hold on. You're telling me that this ship was built by the Ancients?" She looked back at Theogret, who shrugged. She turned back towards Rush and Young, "How come the Ancient database on Atlantis didn't say anything about this ship?"

"Because this ship," Rush stated, "predates Atlantis."

"Predates?" Theogret exclaimed, "But Atlantis is the oldest thing built by the Ancients. How is this thing older?"

Rush sighed, "Yes, it is true that Atlantis is old, and that it was launched before Destiny, but Destiny was in the planning and building stages long before Atlantis was built…perhaps, five hundred thousand or so years before Atlantis. Destiny wasn't launched until only after the Ancients you know as the Lanteans settled the Pegasus galaxy. This ship has been travelling through the universe for only a few hundred thousand years, as far as we can tell. But it is much older than Atlantis on the basis that it was already being built before the city-ships. It only took much longer to build than the city-ships."

Theogret seemed to become excited, "Fascinating. A vessel far older than Atlantis." Suddenly, he realized something Rush had stated, "Wait, did you say this ship has been travelling through the universe?"

Dr. Weir realized this as well, "Where are we?"

Young answered for Rush, "We're not exactly sure. Our best guess is that we're on the other side of the universe…far from either the Milky Way or Pegasus."

This statement sent a murmur through Theogret and the other Asurans. Dr. Weir seemed shocked. She turned away from Young and Rush and sat down on a small trunk at the foot of the bed that was in the room. She rested her chin on her knuckles, "I had imagined travelling far into the universe while all chevrons on the gate were active…" She glanced up at Theogret, "But not this far."

"Yeah, about that," said McKay over the shoulder of one of the marines, "Elizabeth, how did you even know what symbols to dial? Actually, where did you even get the power to dial all nine chevrons?"

"C'mon Rodney," Addamo said from behind the marine who stood on McKay's right, "you should know that the Asurans are capable of creating their own ZPM's." McKay seemed a bit embarrassed about asking that question.

Dr. Weir looked to where she had heard Addamo's voice, "Rodney, who is that?"

Addamo placed a hand on the shoulder of the marine who stood in front of him. The marine moved aside, and Addamo stepped into the doorway, and stood on Young's left side, "I am Col. Thomas Addamo."

Theogret took a step back, the emotions he felt telling him to fear the creature that stood before him, "What in the name of the Ancients are you?"

"Obviously not human," Addamo answered. "I'm a Viterosaur. And before you ask, anymore questions, I'll say that I'm not from this universe."

"Another…universe?" asked Dr. Weir. She glanced at his uniform. It looked nearly identical to the one Young wore, only it seemed to have some elements of the uniform that Col. Sheppard wore, from what she remembered. Her eyes fell upon his left shoulder. He had three different patches on his shoulder; the lowest of the patches was the same one Young had, the Icarus Base patch. The one above it was the same patch that was on her own uniform, the Atlantis expedition patch. The last patch, the topmost patch, was the SGC patch. She did not know of anyone else who had been a part of all three, nor did she know if the SGC ever encountered a creature such as Col. Addamo. Yet somehow, he knew of the Asurans, he knew they had the ability to create ZPMs, and he knew who she was.

Rush sighed in frustration, "Yes, he is from another universe. In ours, he does not exist. Now, back to what Dr. McKay asked earlier…how did you know which symbols to dial in order to get here?" His eyes moved from Dr. Weir to Theogret.

"I devised a formula," Theogret answered, "that compensates for the differences between the Milky Way gates and the Pegasus gates. With my formula, I was able to translate the gate address here from the Milky Way symbols, to Pegasus symbols."

This grabbed Young and Addamo's interest immediately. Simultaneously, both asked, "How did you get the address?" Young and Addamo both glanced at one another for a moment before returning their attentions to Theogret.

Unsure of who to answer, he reached into his pocket. All four marines trained their weapons on him. Theogret froze in fright, "I am only going to show you where I got the nine symbol address!" He pulled out the fossilized Replicator segment he had shown to Dr. Weir. "It is not a weapon," he said as he held it out towards Young and Addamo.

Young motioned for one of the marines to take the stone from Theogret and bring it to him. The marine cautiously walked over to Theogret, and took the rock out of his hand. After examining it carefully, he turned and walked over to Young, handing him the fist sized black rock. Young turned the rock over in his hand until he noticed the piece of metal the size of his thumbnail embedded in the rock.

Addamo turned his head to get a better look at the small metallic object. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his head snapped back to focus on Theogret, "What the hell? You brought a piece of Replicator with you?"

Young quickly looked up at Theogret as well.

Theogret was surprised by Addamo's reaction, "There is nothing to fear! It is inert, it cannot function any longer!" Theogret was genuinely afraid of Addamo, and Dr. Weir could tell. She too was afraid of him, but she kept a cool face.

"Then in that case," Young said, handing the rock back to the marine, who in turn returned it to Theogret, "what does that tell us how you got Destiny's address?"

Theogret pocketed the fossilized Replicator. He kept his eyes away from Addamo, fearing to even look upon the fearsome creature. Instead, he turned his eyes toward Young, "That would be a piece of the very first prototype to the Replicators. That very Replicator was witness to the dialing of the nine symbol address from the Milky Way galaxy and that nine symbol address is stored within its memory cells. And as I mentioned before, I devised a mathematical formula that effectively translates the Milky Way symbols into the Pegasus symbols."

"A mathematical formula?" Rush seemed intrigued. "You Replicators never cease to amaze me."

Terra was also intrigued. She stepped through the doorway and stood behind Rush off to his right side. "What exactly are these…Replicators?" she asked, the question directed at Rush.

"I'll explain to you later," Rush answered. "Right now, I'm more concerned with what we're going to do with them. They are by far the greatest security threat we've faced since the Lucian's managed to infiltrate us."

"If not," Addamo added, "_the_ greatest security threat you've faced."

"Should we drop them off at the nearest planet?" Young asked.

"What!" McKay exclaimed. "You can't just leave them out here on the other side of the universe. Besides, this is Elizabeth we're talking about."

"I do not think that is of any concern," Terra stated. "We still haven't had any success with regaining control over the ship."

Young sighed, "Then that option goes out the window."

"We could always just lock them in here and forget about them," said Addamo.

"That would seem like the better idea," Young replied.

"Again, this is Elizabeth we're talking about," McKay restated.

"No Rodney," Dr. Weir said as she stood up. "This isn't about me. This is about all of us."

"What?" McKay asked. "But Elizabeth, you're the only human among them!"

"Am I, Rodney?" Dr. Weir asked.

McKay was shocked by her question. "You really believe you're one of them, don't you?"

"Of course she does McKay," Addamo said. "She's got those little nasty metallic bugs swimming around in her blood and brain. They've brainwashed her into thinking she's one of them."

"We have done absolutely nothing like that!" Theogret exclaimed, this time daring to glare at the Viterosaur. "Elizabeth has been living among us as a human. She does not think she's one of us. In fact, she very well knows she's not one of us. All we have done to her is try to make her feel at home with us, as she is our leader."

McKay and Addamo stared wide-eyed at him.

"She's your what?" Addamo asked.

"Elizabeth," said McKay, "is this true?"

Dr. Weir nodded, and stood straight, "Yes Rodney. I am the leader of the Asuran Nation, or the Replicator Nation, if you will. I am in charge of all Asurans…was at this point."

"Nonsense!" Theogret exclaimed. "You're still very much the leader of our Nation."

Dr. Weir glanced at him, "Theogret, look at where we are. We are on the other side of the universe. Who knows if we'll ever have the chance to go back home."

"That does not change the fact that you are our leader," Theogret emphasized his statement. "You'll always be our leader." He turned towards McKay and Addamo, "And very much human."

"What about you four-eyes?" Addamo asked, "I can tell you're scared of me just as much as Weir is. What's up with you? You're not like your friends here."

Theogret seemed a bit confused with Addamo's insult, but answered his question. He tapped a finger against the side of his head, "I have a sample of cells from Elizabeth's limbic system incorporated into my makeup. That is how I can feel emotions."

Young sighed, "Right, but that still doesn't answer my question of what we're going to do with them." He cast a glance at Rush and Terra, "Are you anywhere near getting control over Destiny again?"

Rush and Terra exchanged looks. Terra shook her head, Rush did the same.

"Then I guess that takes us back to our previous solution," Young stated. He looked at Addamo, "We lock them up in here until we figure out what to do."

"What about Elizabeth?" McKay asked sharply. "Who knows how long until you regain control over the ship. And if she really still is as human as she says she is, then she'll starve by the time you do. Not only that, but she'll basically be nothing more than a prisoner!"

"Rodney," Dr. Weir said. McKay turned to face her, "I can handle myself. Don't worry about me."

"But Elizabeth-!" McKay began but she stopped him.

"I can handle myself, Rodney," she restated.

McKay knew he wouldn't win. Even though Dr. Weir was no longer leader of the Atlantis Expedition, he still felt as if she had authority over him. So he accepted defeat.

"Then we'll be keeping you locked in here indefinitely..." Young said. He paused as he pondered something, then added, "Or until we can trust you."

Addamo turned an eye towards Young, but did not say anything. _Trust_, he thought. McKay made a motion that drew his attention. McKay was clutching his head, almost as if in pain and leaning back against the side of the door frame. "Rodney, you okay?"

McKay looked up, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a-" He collapsed suddenly to the floor.

At that exact moment, TJ's voice spoke over the radio, "Col. Young, something's happened to Col. Carter."

Young responded, "What happened?"

"Lt. James and Tarvock just brought her into the infirmary," was the reply. "She's unconscious."

"Dr. McKay just collapsed also," Young said back as Addamo knelt down over McKay to check his pulse.

Addamo glanced up at Young, "Same thing. He's unconscious."

"We're bringing him to the infirmary now," Young spoke into his radio. He pointed at McKay while speaking to two of the marines, "Get him down there now."

"I've got this," Addamo said just as he hoisted the limp McKay onto his left shoulder. Young was going to protest, but stopped himself. He knew this was an attempt to gain his trust. Addamo turned to the four marines, "And you boys better keep up with me." He exited the room, and quickly walked down the hallway. Young ordered two of the marines to follow him, who ran after the Viterosaur.

Turning back to Dr. Weir and the Asurans, he sighed. "Sorry to cut the conversation so short, but I have to go with them." Without another word, he turned and left.

Dr. Weir faced Rush and Terra, "And how does he expect us to gain his trust? Your trust, for that matter?"

Rush shrugged, "I'm not sure myself, Dr. Weir. We'll have to wait and see." Rush turned and exited, Terra following him. Terra stopped, and looked over her shoulder at Dr. Weir and the Asurans for a moment, before disappearing behind the door frame. One of the marines pressed the button to close the door.

As the door closed, Terra overheard Theogret saying to Dr. Weir, "Destiny. A fitting name for this ship." And the door locked.

ͼͽ

Addamo quickly walked into the infirmary, with the limp body of Lt. Scott on his left shoulder. The two marines following him rushed in behind him. They had obviously been sprinting to catch up to Addamo, as they were quietly gasping for air.

TJ was beside one of the beds with Tarvock, leaning over the seemingly lifeless body of Riverstone. "…and she just…collapsed?" TJ finished asking Tarvock.

The bio-android Tarvock nodded, "Yea. All she was doing was looking at some unusual readings from the stones that Lt. James pointed out to her. And then she was on the floor."

TJ glanced over her shoulder as Addamo approached, "Col., put him over there," she said pointing to the bed behind Tarvock. Tarvock reached behind him to move a plastic box off of the bed as Addamo shuffled over and carefully lowered Scott's limp body onto the bed. TJ moved over from Riverstone to Scott. She leaned over and lifted his right eyelid with a thumb. Clicking the flashlight on, she shined the flashlight into Scott's eye. "What happened?" she asked.

"We were talking with Dr. Weir and the Asurans," Addamo recited to her what had transpired not too long ago, "and then McKay looked like he was having a pretty bad headache." Addamo shrugged, "He said he was fine, and next thing I knew he was on the floor out cold."

"That's a difference of five minutes," Tarvock stated. "First Col. Carter is investigating strange readings from the communication stones when she collapses. Five minutes later, Dr. McKay seems to be in pain, from what you described Col. He too collapses."

"Did Carter do anything with the readings of the stones?" asked Addamo. "She didn't…fiddle with anything, like our Carter usually does?"

Tarvock shook his head, "No. But I do believe that it has something to do with the stones."

"Why's that?" TJ asked as she finished examining Scott.

"I was looking at the readings also," Tarvock answered. "I'm not sure if Col. Carter noticed it before she collapsed, but the readings became…wild."

"What do you mean 'wild'?" asked TJ.

Tarvock shrugged, "That's the best way I can describe it. Something disturbed the connections, it seems. The readings for Col. Carter and Gen. Riverstone's connection were very sporadic. I thought the communications pedestal was going to overload."

What about Dr. McKay and Scott's connection?" Addamo asked.

"Not as disturbed as Shandra and Carter's connection," Tarvock replied. "That may account for the five minute difference between them fainting."

TJ sighed, "I wonder if this has anything to do with Earth."

ͼͽ

"How is she?" asked Jack as he stopped next to Mitchell, who stood beside a bed on which Sam's body lay. Teal'c and Vala stood on either side of the bed as well.

Mitchell shook his head, "We don't know. Who the hell knows what it did to her head."

"So, tell me what happened again," said Jack. He gazed down at Sam.

"Well," Mitchell began, "After we packed the last Lucian into the truck and sent them on their way to Area 51, the General thought she should head back to her own body."

Teal'c continued the explanation of the events, "We bid her farewell, and then she touched the stone."

"And then…she looked like she fell asleep while standing," Vala finished.

"And about five minutes later," Mitchell added, "Lt. Scott also…fell asleep." He looked at Vala, who gave him a weak smile.

Jack digested the information for a moment, rocking back and forth on his heels. He glanced over at the sleeping body that was McKay. "So…she just touched the rock and…boom?" All heads nodded in response. "Never trusted those damn rocks."

"You think it's the stones, General?" Mitchell asked.

"Of course I do," Jack said bluntly, "It's always the old, ancient…decrepit things that those Ancients left behind for us. The stuffs' ten thousand years old for cryin' out loud. Some of it is bound to not work the way it's supposed to."

"But we have been making use of them for a few years now, General O'Neill," said Teal'c. "There have not been any difficulties with this technology before."

Jack shrugged, "Still doesn't change the fact that I don't trust them…and that they're old. The only old things I'll ever trust are myself…and the Stargate."

Mitchell sighed, "Well, we'll never know what really happened until we get our stones expert back here…and until Sam wakes up."

"Do you think that the General and Col. Carter have exchanged bodies again?" Vala asked. Her eyes moved from Teal'c, to Jack, and then Mitchell.

"Beats me," Mitchell said shrugging.

"I would believe so," Teal'c added. "If Gen. Riverstone touched the stone to return her mind to her body, then this should be Col. Carter."

"Let's hope you're right Teal'c," said Jack. Teal'c raised an eyebrow as he slowly glanced at Jack. "For all we know…it could be neither of them."

ͼͽ

Woolsey turned into the doorway that lead into the recently discovered engine laboratory. He stopped and placed his hands on the guardrail. Directly in front of him, the rotating pillar that was the engine column occupied the very center of the massive cylindrical space. On his right, was a flight of stairs that lead to an upper platform. To his left was another flight of stairs that lead down to the lower platform, on which Dr. Zelenka was on. He was running from console to console, constantly checking the data on his tablet to make sure that it matched the data on the consoles. Woolsey called down to him. Zelenka almost tripped over his own feet as he was startled. He turned and looked up at Woolsey.

"Mr. Woolsey!" His face was red, indicating that he had been doing a lot of running between each of the ten consoles located around the platform, as well as the three consoles located along the flight of stairs leading down to the platform.

Woolsey turned and descended the stairs to the platform, "Have you made any progress with Dr. Jackson's jury-rig idea?"

Zelenka pushed his glasses higher onto the bridge of his nose with his index finger, "Only slightly, but so far everything seems to indicate that it just might work."

"'Just might'?" Woolsey asked.

Zelenka nodded, "Yes, well Dr. Jackson's idea of turning Destiny's FTL drive into a star drive seems to be plausible. We just need to wait for Rodney to return. He went to Destiny to study the FTL engines. He should be back soon with the information we need to begin the simulations. Once he comes back, we can begin experimenting. Although…it will be some time before we can even go back to Destiny to help them rig their FTL into a star drive.."

Woolsey nodded, put his hands behind his back and let out a sigh as he glanced down at his feet, "About Dr. McKay…" Zelenka knew something was wrong before Woolsey even said anything. "Something happened with the communication stones, we believe. Lt. Scott was taken to the infirmary at the SGC, unconscious. It turns out that the same is true for Col. Carter and the creature she's changed bodies with."

"How and what happened?" Zelenka asked, a bit puzzled about the fact that this might have something to do with the communication stones.

"We're not exactly sure what happened," Woolsey answered, "but it seems that Gen. Riverstone expressed a desire to return to her normal body. She took the necessary procedure with reversing the transfer…but no sooner had she removed the stone from the pedestal, she collapsed unconscious. Lt. Scott fell unconscious as well about five minutes later." Woolsey sighed again as he looked back up at Zelenka, "We're not sure how long he'll remain unconscious, or if it'll be Rodney to wake. But Rodney won't be back for some time."

Zelenka didn't know what to say for a few moments before he found his voice again, "Has the SGC investigated into why it happened?"

Woolsey shook his head, "No, but the stones expert will be there soon. He'll be able to tell us what exactly happened."

"Then, what am I supposed to do?" asked Zelenka. "I've been waiting for Rodney to come back so we could begin work…"

Woolsey sighed, "For now, why don't you return to what you were doing before we found this."

"But I've already done all of that," Zelenka stated.

"Then go and help Dr. Davidson with the diagnostics she's performing on the security systems in the control center," Woolsey replied. "The security systems in the southeastern part of the city seem to be malfunctioning."

With that, Zelenka trudged up the stairs, disappointed that he wasn't going to be working on the simulations any time soon. Woolsey shook his head and sighed as he was left alone on the platform, _"Seems so many strange things have been happening since the Destiny crew was revived."_ His eyes glanced at the rotating pillar for a moment, and McKay's laptop, which still after a few days sat on the glass extension of the engine pillar. He too started up the stairs and out of the engine laboratory, leaving the lower platform empty and quiet.

ͼͽ

About five hours had passed since Carter and McKay had both collapsed, unconscious. Brody and Volker had set aside their work on trying to regain control of Destiny's systems to help Vanessa and Tarvock decipher the recordings of the unusual connection readings from the communication stones. Rush had returned to the bridge of the ship, continuing his work on trying to directly regain control of the ship. In the infirmary, Addamo had pulled up a chair next to the bed of the still limp body of Riverstone. He had rested his right leg up on his left knee, and he read a book which was propped up against his right thigh. He turned a page with his left index finger. In his right hand, a small white cigarette rested between his fingers, a thin stream of smoke rising up from the embers on the end of the cigarette. Neither Riverstone nor Scott had stirred at all in the last five hours, not even twitched a muscle. TJ sat at the table with all of her equipment. She was experimenting with different medicinal ingredients, from what she had available, as well as from what the Novans had provided her with. Two days earlier, Terra had come to her, informing her of a disorder she had, one that was similar to epilepsy. TJ promised her that she would make it her mission to create some form of a treatment for Terra, as it was likely she had the necessary ingredients. So far, she had not made much headway on developing a treatment. Up in the observatory, however, there was a bit of activity.

Chloe stood facing the glass dome in the center of the room, performing her usual yoga exercises. Soft, soothing and rhythmic blues music played from an iPod attached to a small portable speaker set in front of Chloe, the speakers pointed towards her. But she was not alone in this session. Behind her, both Eli and his counterpart Vitero-Eli, as well as Terra, mimicked her movements. Although Eli had only been back on the ship for not even twenty-four hours yet, he had resumed his daily life, as if there had been no interruption with his kidnapping. Since both stones had been quarantined, he had to wait before he could return to Earth to visit his mother. His counterpart, Vitero-Eli had pleaded with Young to allow him to join Chloe and Eli with their yoga workout, as he too had been a regular in the exercises back in his home universe. After some persuasion from both Chloe and Eli, Young reluctantly allowed for Vitero-Eli to participate in their workout sessions, albeit under security watch. Terra had only just begun participating in Chloe's exercises' in the last two days. It was the first bond Terra had made with a crewmember, her first bond of friendship and trust, and Chloe enjoyed her company. Terra proved to be a quick learner, and out of just two days of teaching and practicing, Terra was already much better than Eli, even though he had been practicing much longer than her. The two marines, who Young had assigned to watch over Vitero-Eli, stood on either side of the door, watching the session with stolid amusement. Unbeknownst to everyone in the observatory, another Petrus'iri sat on one of the benches that overlooked the outside of Destiny's hull. It was garbed in a white flowing dress, the very end of it folded gracefully on the floor. A strange white aura seemed to surround the Petrus'iri as it quietly watched the yoga session, particularly observing Terra as she performed the graceful movements which Chloe had taught her. A light smile appeared on the Petrus'iri's scaly muzzle.

Greer was alone with another marine in a small storage room somewhere in the depths of Destiny. He and the marine were going through the vests' that the Viterosaurs had worn when they stepped through the gate, as well as the crates and packs the Asurans had on them. They were making sure that there were no dangerous devices that were meant to destroy Destiny. So far, all Greer found within the pockets of the vests' were small silvery cylinders. Each cylinder had a small blue glass dot on one of the flat surfaces, and a thin gap ran along the circumference of the cylinders, dividing them in half. The only weapons Greer had come across were the sword that General Riverstone had been holding when she walked through the Stargate and the rifles and pistols each Viterosaur had on them. The marine was rummaging through the crates the Asurans brought with them. All he had found were one small pistol-like weapon in each crate. The rest of the contents in each crate were nothing but scientific equipment and instruments.

Up in the Hydroponics laboratory, Dr. Park tended to the young plant and herbs that were steadily growing bigger each day. Another woman was also helping her tend to the vegetation as well. Outside Hydroponics, Wray walked passed as she conversed with a female marine and male crewmember. The crewmember handed Wray a tablet, which she took and looked over the data that had been presented to her.

The door to Young's quarters was wide open. He sat at his desk, reading the print on a sheet of paper in his hand. He set the paper down on the desk, and rubbed his tired eyes. He sat there for a few moments, staring aimlessly at the floor he could see over the edge of his desk. Then he stood up, walked over to the door ad closed it. He shut off the lights, and made his way to his bed.

Varro was also in his quarters. His shirt had been tossed aside onto the foot of the bed. Beads of sweat dotted his entire back and shoulders, and ran down from his sideburns, forehead and neck, dripping onto the floor with each push-up he did. It was the only way he could keep fit on this ship at this point. But keeping fit was far from his mind at that moment. The whole while he had been exercising, thoughts of the Lucian assault on the SGC had been running through his mind. He wondered if his former comrades had been stopped and how many lives had been lost on both sides. He wondered if the Three Kora had appeared and hoped that they had somehow been stopped. He was going to have to wait to find out all of those things, wait until Riverstone returned from Earth.

Over in the locked room where Young had confined Dr. Weir and the Asurans, it was quiet. The Asurans had decided to hibernate while they were being confined. Dr. Weir, however, had chosen to remain awake. She stood in front of the window, gazing outside at the flurry of blue and green colors. The colors danced across the smooth skin on her face, her expression blank. The thought of being on an Ancient ship that predated Atlantis fascinated her. But the knowledge that this ship was billions and billions of light-years away from both the Milky Way and the Pegasus galaxies was daunting. Before she walked through, she had expected to walk onto another planet, in another galaxy even further than the Pegasus galaxy, and deeper in the recesses of the universe. But stepping onto an ancient ship that was traveling ever deeper into the universe was not what she had expected. She had commanded an Asuran vessel before and it was not a pleasant experience living on a ship for a long period of time. And that was why she had settled the planet New Asuras, so she could command on solid ground. But now, the life of isolation in deep space on a ship had come back to haunt her. She was going to have to become used to this life once more, as she was sure she wouldn't see the soil of an alien planet any time soon.

_"Gain their trust,"_ she thought. The last time Replicators and humans encountered each other, the Replicator home world of Asuras was completely destroyed…by none other than one of the humans she once had authority over. Perhaps it was time for humans and Replicators to live among one another, to coexist side by side as comrades. Perhaps they were meant to be here, destined to live alongside the humans. _"'Destiny, a fitting name for this ship',"_ Theogret had said a few hours before. _"Maybe it's was our destiny to come here. Maybe it's our destiny to journey through the universe."_ She blinked and sighed, _"Maybe it's time Replicators changed."_ It seemed like an impossible task to accomplish. But the biggest questions she wanted answered were what was this ship journeying through the universe to find? What was the purpose of this ship being out here? What was its mission? Dr. Weir glanced over her shoulder at Theogret and the other inanimate Replicators that sat like statues with their eyes closed. Looking back outside the window, she thought to herself, _"What is…this ships destiny?"_

Å

End Chapter 6


	7. Cry For Innocence

**3/7/12 **

**Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying the read so far! Because I sure as hell am enjoying writing these chapters for you guys. This was a fun chapter to write. I bet you guys are getting tired of newcomers from other universes and galaxies, but don't worry. There's no more new characters coming in from other universes for the rest of the story...at least, none that I have planned yet. So, I intend to keep it like this for now, and plan to start with off-world exploration fairly soon. In the mean time, I'd like to say that there are going to be a few familiar names in this chapter, names of certain real-life people whom I have come to respect greatly the past couple months. Who are they? Well, if you don't know about the SGU and SciFi movements on FaceBook, then you won't know who they are. But I'm pretty sure those people will know who they are once they read the names of those characters. Just a little side note, this chapter was going to be a bit longer than it currently is. But I decided against releasing another huge chapter, so I cut it down to a little bit over 20 pages. All material excluded in this chapter will be in chapter 8. Anyways, enjoy the read guys!**

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><p><em>Hello fans of Stargate Universe. The name's sheesh.<em>

_This is the story of our friends onboard the Destiny, 3 years after they made the fateful FTL jump from one galaxy, to another. We follow them as their jouney continues through this new, and strange galaxy. What mysteries await them? What sort of alien species will they encounter, and wil they be hostile? And what has become of the one man we have come to know and love as the incredibly smart, Eli Wallace? Has he survived the jump? Or did the crew wake up too late? To find out the answers to these questions, read the story that could have been, the story that many of us SGU fans would love to see finished._

_This is a fan fiction that I have been working on for the last few months. Forgive me if you see mistakes here and there, as I have been a novice writer for about 6 years now. Since I learned while watching the season 2 finale that there would no longer be new episodes, I was haunted with many, many questions about where the story of the Destiny would go, and what would become of the characters we have come to love. After giving it some thought, I decided I would write my take on a season 3 of Stargate Universe. This is a fan fiction, written by a fan, for the fans. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. This is the biggest project I've ever done. Please, I only ask one thing from those of you who read it...**REVIEWS!** Again, I'm still a novice writer, and I need...would like reviews from other fans ands readers about my writings. If there is something that you did or did not like, please tell me in your review, so that I may improve upon it in future chapters. Again, **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_

**Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum**

**This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.**

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><p>216/12

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

Cry for Innocence

It had been a day since Eli returned and since McKay and Sam fell unconscious. It had been a day since no progress had been made on figuring what happened with the communication stones, and no progress was made on regaining control over Destiny. It had been a day since the Lucian assault on the SGC had finally been stopped. And it had been a day since Greer made the wish with Tarvock in order to save Eli.

McKay opened his eyes, but his vision was clouded. He blinked several times until his vision returned, and looked up at the metal ceiling. He was still on Destiny. As he sat up, he groaned in pain and held his head in his hands. "What the hell happened?" he asked to no one in particular.

TJ swiveled around in her chair quickly, "Lt. Scott? Is that you?"

McKay shook his head, "No. I'm still McKay…or at least I think I still am."

TJ clicked the switch on her radio, "Col. Young, Dr. McKay is awake."

"I'm on my way," was the response from the radio.

"Dr. McKay," TJ said as she approached him, "how are you feeling?"

McKay shook his head. "Like I got hit by a freight train." He looked around, his eyes widening, almost as if he was seeing the world for the first time. "I feel like…I've lived another life…"

TJ clicked the flashlight on and held it up as she shined it into McKay's left eye, then his right. "What do you mean, 'lived another life'?"

McKay blinked rapidly as she clicked the flashlight off, "I-I…I think I have every single one of Lt. Scott's memories in my head."

TJ furrowed her eyebrows, confused, "All of Matt's memories?"

McKay nodded slowly as the foreign memories flooded his mind. He remembered Scott's childhood days, how he had always wanted to be a soldier. McKay remembered how he used to march around his house in camouflaged clothing with a plastic assault rifle tucked underneath his arm. He remembered how excited he was when he was finally drafted into the military when he came of age. The memories of how rough life as a marine was were very distinct to McKay, as the constant training and maintaining of physical shape were probably the only unfavorable memories. It was hard for McKay to believe that Scott hadn't broken mentally due to all that stress and difficult lifestyle.

The memories of when Scott was assigned to the Stargate Program, and his stationing on the planet Icarus came up. Then it was the feeling of total isolation from friends and family when everyone stepped through the gate during the Lucian attack on the Icarus Base. McKay finally understood how everyone on board this ship felt during their first few days and week on Destiny. Loneliness, fear, helplessness and the feeling of being completely lost. McKay couldn't have been able to imagine these feelings. He had to be feeling what Scott had felt the first days on Destiny. And then the more recent memories came to the surface. Scott's feelings for Chloe. Was this the love that Scott felt towards Chloe that McKay was currently feeling? It had to be, there could be no other explanation for these foreign memories and feelings.

Young walked into the infirmary while TJ was taking McKay's blood pressure, "How is he?"

TJ undid the velcro on the blood pressure gauge sleeve and wrapped the air pump into the sleeve, "Well, he's alright, besides a headache and a few extra memories that aren't his."

Young glanced at TJ, confused, "What?"

"I have Lt. Scott's memories," McKay answered bluntly.

Young looked at McKay blankly for a moment, then he furrowed his eyebrows, "A side effect of the stone's malfunctioning?"

McKay looked up at Young, "What? Stone's malfunctioning? No, that's impossible. It can't happen."

"Then how do you explain you falling unconscious and the strange readings the stone's gave off?" Young asked.

McKay was about to answer, but stopped as he had no answer for Young. "Strange readings?" he asked.

Young motioned for him to follow, "Come on, I'll show you."

ͼͽ

Scott jolted upright in the bed. He frantically looked all over the room, confused as to where he was. Then he remembered that he had been on his was up to help with clearing rubble from the main entrance into the mountain base. But this wasn't the main entrance corridor. This was the infirmary. _"What the hell am I doing here?"_ he thought to himself. _"Why am I back here?"_ A dull pain suddenly started to throb behind his eyes, and he groaned as he rubbed them.

Dr. Lam entered the infirmary and saw that he was awake, "Hey, you're finally awake. We thought you'd never wake up, Lt."

Scott realized that he was still in McKay's body, rather than his own, "Yeah, how'd you know it was me?"

Dr. Lam shrugged, "Well, you didn't touch the communication stone, so I figured that you couldn't have gone back to your body."

Scott nodded, "Oh, yeah. I guess you're right." He winced as the dull pain behind his eyes intensified. He placed his face into his hands and groaned again. Dr. Lam noticed his discomfort, and approached him to ask what was wrong. But as she stepped closer to him, his head snapped back up as he stared straight ahead, a look of bewilderment in his eyes.

Dr. Lam could tell something was wrong. "Lt. Scott? Are you alright?" she asked as she carefully reached out and placed her hand on his right shoulder.

Scott remained silent, as he could not speak. He only continued to stare straight ahead at the concrete wall ten feet away from him. But he did not see a concrete wall. Instead, he saw strange alien landscapes and ships, and fearsome alien faces he had never seen before. He saw Dr. Woolsey, Dr. Weir, Zelenka, Teyla, and a wraith he knew by the name Michael. He saw the city of Atlantis before him as he gazed out upon its glory.

Then, childhood memories that weren't his flashed passed his eyes. He remembered how he had a crush on his science teacher's assistance, Mrs. Fredrickson. He remembered how he was always bullied by the third grade class bully, Ned, for being a nerd that loved his science books, as well as for having a crush on a teacher's assistant that was twenty-eight years older than him. He remembered graduating at the very top of his classes in both high school, and college. Receiving those master's diplomas' in science and technology, and advanced quantum physics was probably the second most exhilarating thing to have happened to him in his life. The first most exhilarating thing to have happened in his life was seeing an active Stargate for the first time, and stepping through it onto another planet, thousands of light-years away from Earth in the blink of an eye.

Scott blinked again as the memories slowly faded from his vision, and the bleak, grey concrete wall of the infirmary returned to his field of vision. He cast Dr. Lam a confused look. Dr. Lam looked back at him worriedly, "Is everything alright, Lt.?"

Scott shook his head slowly, "No. I…I remember…things I shouldn't…"

"What do you mean?" Dr. Lam asked, confused.

"I…know everything about Dr. McKay," Scott answered. "Right down to his kindergarten days." His eyes strayed from Dr. Lam to the bed behind her, on which Sam lay unconscious as well. He indicated towards the unconscious colonel, "What happened to her?"

Dr. Lam glanced over her shoulder at Sam, "Same thing that happened to you Lt. Gen. Riverstone wanted to return to her normal body. As soon as she touched to stone, she fell unconscious. You did too, only five minutes later."

As she finished her sentence, Sheppard walked into the infirmary. His eyes immediately fell upon Scott. "McKay?" he asked.

Scott shook his head in response, but did not say anything. He was still trying to understand why he had all of McKay's memories, why McKay's entire life was among Scott's own memories. He did not like the fact that someone else's life was now part of his life. He felt uncomfortable, like he had violated someone else's personal space. He knew things he should not have known, as well as things he never learned. He knew everything that McKay knew about Ancient technology, even everything McKay had learned in his college studies.

Sheppard glanced quizzically at Dr. Lam, "Is that-?"

Dr. Lam answered his question before he could finish asking it, "It's Lt. Scott. But that's not the major issue here right now."

Sheppard sensed something was off. He waited for Dr. Lam to explain herself, but she didn't. She only looked at Scott with concern. "So…what's the problem? He's all still there, right?"

Dr. Lam nodded, "Yeah, he seems to be intact." Then she shook her head, and furrowed her eyebrows.

"But?" Sheppard asked, urging her to continue.

This time Scott answered him, "I know everything about him."

Sheppard seemed a bit confused by the answer, "Everything about…who? McKay?" Scott nodded in response again. Sheppard looked to Dr. Lam again for an answer, "So…that's a problem then, right? How'd it even happen?"

Dr. Lam shrugged, "I'm not sure." She turned to face Sheppard, "We won't know for sure what it means and how it happened until Dr. Cook is done with his analysis of the stones."

ͼͽ

The scientist shook his head in frustration as he scanned over the connection readings data for the fifteenth time. Dr. Martin Cook, the stones expert that Jack had called in to find out what went wrong with the stones, rubbed his tired eyes. He had been looking over this data for the past twelve hours. He knew what he was looking at; he knew what it all meant and he knew that the abnormal readings that had gone off the charts when Gen. Riverstone tried to reverse the connection should _not_ have happened.

But it had happened, and Dr. Cook had to find out why. But so for, the reason as to why the strange and erratic readings had occurred eluded him. So far, it seemed to him that the only answer was simply a random glitch in the connections between all four stones. But that was not an answer he was willing to give, nor was he even going to consider that to be a likely answer.

Since it had happened, the stones had been quarantined and were left on the communication pedestal. During that time, the connection readings were left running, in case the abnormal readings were to happen again. As the fifteenth scan of the readings continued, Dr. Cook's eyes absentmindedly strayed from the laptop in front of him to the laptop with the live readings a few feet away on his left. Sam and Riverstone's connection readings had stayed the same since the incident; little to no activity at all. He moved his eyes down to McKay and Scott's connection readings. The readings showed activity, but those of a reversed connection that would return the individuals minds to their original bodies.

He looked tiredly at the readings for a few seconds and then yawned, not registering what he was seeing. Then it clicked and he sat upright in his chair, thrusting his body forwards in the swivel chair. He thrust himself forward with such force that he tipped the chair forward too much, which allowed the wheeled chair to roll out from underneath him. Dr. Cook fell forward when the chair disappeared from underneath him. He threw a hand up and caught the edge of the counter top that the laptops and stones sat on. He quickly popped his head up above the counter top and stood up on his knees. He leaned closer to the laptop with the live connection readings, his eyes wide with bewildered disbelief as he studied the readings.

The readings showed that McKay and Scott's minds were in the process of exchanging bodies once again, indicating that they were returning to their normal bodies. But from the three years that Dr. Cook had spent studying the communication stones, he knew that the process of reversing the transfer of minds only lasted for about half a second. The readings from that process would have only appeared for that long before fading to normal readings. But as he stared at the readings, it was clear to him that what was happening was not supposed to happen. Within these readings, he could see the distinct normal readings that signify the individuals had returned to their respected bodies.

Dr. Cook was confounded. He had never seen such bizarre readings before. "What the hell is this?" he asked the empty air of the room. He reached up and hit a few keys on the laptop, saving the readings data. Then he typed in the command to refresh the readings. But the readings he had seen before remained the same. This confounded him even more. Then, his bewilderment disappeared and he became worried, "Oh boy…this can't be good."

ͼͽ

Addamo stood in the observatory, gazing at the beauty of the colors that danced passed the glass dome as Destiny traveled in FTL. He was leaning on his forearms against the railing with a cigarette in his hand. He lifted the cigarette up to his lips, and took a deep drag. Lowering his hand again, he exhaled thick streams of white smoke from his nostrils. The smoke cloud billowed in front of him for a few moments before slowly fading as it rose. Behind him, two marines stood on either side of the door, keeping careful watch over the lone Viterosaur.

The star heart crystal around his neck suddenly started to glow brightly. Addamo glanced down at the gem and sighed, "I know, I know. You don't approve of me smoking. But it's a habit, okay? You're just going to have to deal with it." He smirked and looked back out the glass dome as the gem intensified in brightness, "Sorry, but no amount of nagging is going to make me quit. You can blame my father for introducing me to the concept of smoking."

He lifted the cigarette to his lips again, and took another drag. As he exhaled another stream of smoke from his nostrils again, the crystal intensified yet again in brightness. Glancing down again, Addamo knew then something was wrong. The crystal wasn't disapproving of his smoking; it was warning him of danger. Suddenly he froze, finally noticing the feeling of a presence directly behind him. _"That's what you were trying to warn me about, weren't you?"_ he directed his thoughts towards the star heart crystal. His instincts told him to ready himself to strike at whatever was behind him, but he ignored them, fearing that it might be one of the humans. He whirled around with snarl and bared his teeth.

But there was no one there, no one behind him like his instincts told him there had been someone there. He quickly glanced down once more at the star heart; it was still glowing, which meant that danger was still close by. His eyes darted from every dark corner of the observatory. But there was no one in sight; no eminent danger was visible to him. He was completely alone in the observatory, and that struck him as odd. _"Where are the guards?"_ he thought. He cautiously walked toward the entrance, casting his eyes quickly left and right as he did. And then he stopped, dead in his tracks.

The guards were still in the observatory with him, albeit on the floor, seemingly lifeless. "What the hell?" he exclaimed loudly. He hadn't heard a sound. How could he have not heard the guards' distress? Addamo rushed over to the guard on the right side of the doorway, and pressed his index finger against the mans jugular. No pulse. He quickly stood up and moved to the other guard and checked the humans pulse. There was a pulse, albeit faint. The man was still alive, but barely. "What happened to you two? How the hell did this happen?" he asked himself. He glanced down at the crystal once more, hoping that danger had passed. But the gem still radiated the same brilliant blue light. Addamo looked warily over his shoulders, but he was still completely alone in the observatory. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong, and out of place.

Every prey instinct was telling him to get out of there as fast as he could. He felt like a frightened cornered mouse that had nowhere to go as a cat slowly and teasingly approached it, ready to pounce on it. He'd only felt like this once before in his life, and his decision to flee caused the deaths of his comrades and best friend.

Suddenly, the smell of rotten eggs washed over Addamo. The distinct smell of sulfur surrounded him, almost choking him. And then his instincts took over his muscles. Without a second thought, he grabbed the limp marine under the armpit with one hand, and the vest with his other hand. With almost no effort, he hoisted the human onto his right shoulder. In less than a second, he had stood up and sprinted out of the observatory.

As he sprinted down the corridor, his prey instincts were telling him to not look back and to keep running forwards. He had the distinct feeling of being chased by a dangerous predator. As he skid around a corner, his claws carving scratches into the hard surface of the floor, he reached up and pulled the radio off of the marines vest.

ͼͽ

"What?" McKay exclaimed. He studied the strange reading pattern that depicted his connection with Scott's body. The abnormal connection readings that were recorded just before Sam fell unconscious had stumped him, but now the live readings of his connection greatly confounded him. "What the hell is this? This isn't supposed to be happening."

The bio-android Viterosaur Tarvock nodded, "That's exactly what I said. From what I am able to decipher from the live data, apparently there's no more connection between your communication stone, and Lt. Scott's communication stone."

"B-But that's not possible!" McKay exclaimed. "The stones are designed to reverse the transfer when the connection is broken. I should be back in my body right now with these kinds of readings!"

"Maybe it's a glitch," Brody proposed.

McKay shook his head, "That's not possible. The stones are flawless. They were designed not to have any glitches."

"Well," Young said as he stopped pacing at the opposite side of the table across from McKay, "looks like they're not flawless. Look." He pointed at the communications pedestal. "It's off. And you're still here."

"Which probably means that Col. Carter is still here," Volker said.

McKay shook his head again as he continued to scan over all the data again, "But _how_ did this happen? And how does that explain me having Lt. Scott's memories?"

"Maybe the glitch caused some reverse feedback or something. Sort of like backwash," Brody suggested. "Maybe it's kind of like what happened when Dr. Perry and Ginn were sharing Chloe's body through the stone." He shrugged, "Maybe you and Lt. Scott were both here and on Earth at the same time." He glanced at Volker, who was giving him a confused look, "I don't know."

"Perhaps," Tarvock began, "that is the case here." McKay quickly looked up at Tarvock. "Maybe, when the incident happened, the glitch in the connection caused you and Scott to re-exchange bodies again. Only when you re-exchanged bodies, you're mind was still here while Lt. Scott's mind was returning to his body, and Lt. Scott's mind was still in your body while your mind was returning to your body as well…" His eyes migrated from McKay, to Young, then to Volker and Brody. He shrugged, "But that's just a theory, I guess."

"But then…how am I still here if the communications pedestal is off?" McKay asked. The room remained silent, as no one had an answer for him.

As Young opened his mouth to say something, a frantic voice crackled from his radio as well as what sounded like the sound of a fierce wind, "We've got a security breach! There's a man down! I repeat, we've got a security breach!" And the radio fell silent again.

"That was Col. Addamo," Tarvock stated. No sooner had he finished his statement, a white and black blur sped passed the doorway and down the corridor. Tarvock blinked, "And that was Col. Addamo too."

"He's heading towards the infirmary," Young said as he quickly stepped towards the door. "Let's see what the deal is." And he exited the room. Tarvock quickly followed behind him, leaving McKay, Volker and Brody alone and a bit confused as to what had just happened.

"Man," Volker finally said after a few moments of silence, "the infirmary's been getting a lot of action lately." Brody nodded in agreement.

ͼͽ

Eli and his Viterosaur counterpart were in his room, talking amongst each other. Two marines stood outside the door. Eli sat on the chair by the control console on the wall opposite his bed. He swiveled side to side in the chair as he exchanged stories with his counterpart, who sat on the edge of Eli's bed fiddling with the plume of fur on the end of his tail.

Eli smirked when his counterpart said something funny. "Yeah," he said as he glanced up at the ceiling, "reminds me of the day when Jesse thought he was being funny by flipping my tray out of my hands in the cafeteria. Out of all the years we went to high school together, that was the only time he actually did anything to make himself look cool. Picking on the biggest geek of the whole class."

"What did you do?" Vitero-Eli asked as he noticed a small knot nestled among the long gray strands of fine silky fur on the end of his tail. He immediately went about removing the knot.

Eli shrugged, "Nothing. What could I do? He was the class bully, and there wasn't anything I could've done to make him stop being such a douche bag that day."

Vitero-Eli glanced up from his work on the knot in his fur, "Dude, really? You didn't do anything?" Eli shrugged, "Man, you should've done what I did when he decided to be such a douche that day."

"And what was that?" Eli asked interested in hearing what happened to the class bully in another life.

Vitero-Eli let a smirk appear on his muzzle, "Oh, nothing…just…pushed him into the janitors closet when he least expected it." Vitero-Eli laughed silently for a moment before continuing, "He fell and hit the mop bucket. All of that dirty water completely soaked him. Class bully my ass." He and Eli laughed with one another for a minute or two.

Silence fell between them for a moment or two. Then Eli spoke again as he slowly shook his head side to side, "Man, I wish I had the guts back then to go up against Jesse." He glanced at his counterpart's uniform. It looked similar to Scott's uniform, only it looked very ragged and very worn, as if it had seen many years of use. He saw the name patch on the left side of Vitero-Eli's chest. Finally, he mustered the courage to ask, "So, what's the story with that?" he asked, indicating the uniform.

Vitero-Eli glanced down at the uniform, "Oh this?" He shrugged his shoulders to fix a kink in the back of the uniform, "Yeah, it's not exactly mine…but in kind of a way…it is."

"Let me guess," Eli said, "descendants?"

"Bingo," Vitero-Eli said with a nod of his angular head. "So, apparently when Matt was about sixty years old, he gave his uniform to my…second son, I think. Don't know why though, just did. So, my daughter, the first of my kids, decided to one day take it out of the display case in the museum, and make a name patch with my last name on it."

"So…no military stuff?" Eli asked.

Vitero-Eli shook his head in response, "Nah. Well, I mean there were some that apparently went into the military, but that was two thousand years later."

"Man," Eli said as he studied the ragged uniform, "it looks exactly like the one I saw Matt wearing in the kino recordings. And it's two thousand years old…"

Vitero-Eli nodded, "Yeah. I'm kinda surprised that it hasn't disintegrated yet. Maybe that display case was vacuum sealed or something."

"So you took it from the museum?"

"Well," Vitero-Eli started to say, "there wasn't anyone around, and I figured it'd be kinda cool wearing it, so-"

"You stole it?" Eli asked with a smirk.

Vitero-Eli started to shake his head but stopped. He shrugged after a moment, "Yeah, I guess you can say that."

Eli laughed silently at that. He could only imagine what the descendants of this universe would have thought of him if he had taken the uniform from the Tenaran Museum…if there had been a uniform in this universe. Eli glanced towards the doorway as Terra exited the room directly across from his, and walked away down the corridor to the left. He looked surprised, as it was the first time he had seen her since returning to the ship. "Why is there…a…lizard on the ship?" he asked as quietly as he could, but loud enough so that everyone heard him, his counterpart and the marines outside the doorway as well.

"You haven't met Terra yet?" Vitero-Eli asked.

The marine on the left side of the doorway leaned inside as he looked at Eli over his shoulder, "She's only the first British alien in the universe."

Eli raised his eyebrows, "British?" He glanced at Vitero-Eli as his counterpart started laughing. The marine who had spoken smiled as he leaned back and returned his attention straight ahead.

Vitero-Eli was still smiling as he spoke, "Terra isn't a lizard."

"But-" Eli began.

"She only looks like a lizard," Vitero-Eli continued. "She's a Petrus'iri. Her species are mammals. If they were reptiles, then Terra wouldn't have…um…" He seemed embarrassed to say what he wanted to say, so he leaned in closer towards Eli, "She wouldn't have any breasts." He paused for a moment as he pondered something. Then, still whispering he added, "Kinda like my species. The General doesn't have any, if you didn't notice."

Eli nodded, understanding what his counterpart was telling him. "But…what is, uh…she doing on the ship?"

The marine who had spoken earlier replied, "We saved her species from extinction. She was onboard the ship when Destiny decided to lock down all systems except the most basic, and then jumped into FTL before Terra could leave."

"So she's stranded on the ship, like us," Eli concluded.

"Not really," said Vitero-Eli. "Well, I mean, yeah she's stranded on the ship like all of us, but…she said she's always wanted to explore other worlds."

"Now," said the marine on the right side of the door, "I think she's become Rush's pet."

"Oh come on," Vitero-Eli said, "she isn't Rush's pet…at least, not in my universe."

The marine on the right glanced over his shoulder at Eli's counterpart, "Yeah, at least in your universe. This ain't your universe."

The marine on the left turned his head towards the other marine, "Come to think of it, she's been going pretty much everywhere Rush goes. She's more like his little fan girl than his pet."

"Heh," the other marine smirked, "that sounds about right." He fell silent, but he clearly looked as if he wanted to say something else.

"What?" the marine on the left asked.

"Though you gotta admit," the other marine looked at his comrade, "if it weren't for her being on the ship, we wouldn't be here right now. She did save our asses."

The marine on the left nodded, "Yeah, she did." A few minutes of silence followed before he looked over his shoulder again at Eli, "You know, she's pretty smart, definitely smarter than Rush. Hey, maybe if you two teamed up with her, maybe you guys can finally bring the ship to listen to us."

"That is a pretty good idea," the other marine stated in agreement. "There's two of the same kid genius on the ship right now." He turned and leaned his left shoulder against the doorway frame. "Two's better than one, and since you two are basically the same, then there's twice the nerd-power." Eli and Vitero-Eli exchanged quick glances.

"How'd you guys get control of your ship again?" the marine on the left asked, his question directed towards Vitero-Eli.

"Um," Vitero-Eli started, "well…I don't know really. By the time Gen. Riverstone and Col. Addamo brought me back, they'd already taken control of the ship."

"Is it the same story though?" the marine on the left asked. "I mean, did the ship go haywire when the lizard got on your ship?"

Vitero-Eli thought for a moment as he tried to remember what he had been told of what had happened before his return, "I think Rush said something about after finishing the transfer of the entire Petrus'iri database, and downloading the English language into Terra's brain, Destiny Two suddenly decided to stop accepting commands of any kind." He gave a small shrug as his gaze moved away from the marine to stare blankly at the far wall in the corridor, "And then Destiny stopped accepting commands. And then both ships went into FTL. Rush didn't tell me what happened in between that and my rescue."

Eli was a bit confused when he heard his counterpart mention the name 'Destiny Two.' "You guys have two Ancient ships in your universe?" he asked as he looked at Vitero-Eli with a mixture of confusion, amazement and envy.

Vitero-Eli nodded, "Yeah. When we dialed Earth in the star, Col. Telford was the only one to actually walk through to Earth. He got sent back in time ten hours. But when the crew walked through, they got sent back in time two thousand years…along with Rush and Destiny."

"So…" the marine on the left said, "the crazy guy went back in time with your crew and ship, huh?" He smirked, "Bet he didn't have any kids, did he?" He glanced over at the other marine, "Kinda like old man Brody, right?"

Vitero-Eli shook his head, "Nope. He spent pretty much his entire life trying to restore Destiny Two to working condition. All he could do was fix the sub-light engines. FTL never got fixed until…only a day before we turned up and tried to do the same thing. Good thing they stopped us."

"So then who's in charge of…the ships?" the other marine asked.

"Gen. Riverstone commands Destiny, although sometimes she'll go over to Destiny Two to take charge for a few days," Vitero-Eli replied. "And Col. Young is in charge of Destiny Two. Although, he mostly lets the original commander of Destiny Two to be in command, since he had been commanding it for a long time before we came along…again."

"Who's that?" asked Eli.

"That would be Tarvock," Vitero-Eli answered.

"The robot?" the marine on the left asked.

Vitero-Eli nodded, "Yeah. He pretty much took charge over Destiny Two the day after Col. Young's funeral."

"Your android has been commanding the other Destiny for almost two thousand years?" asked Eli. He already knew about Tarvock. He knew that his counterpart had built the android using pieces from their Destiny. But he hadn't known that the android had been built two thousand years ago. Vitero-Eli nodded silently in response. Eli shook his head and looked down at the floor as he swiveled his chair to one side again, "Man, why couldn't Destiny be sent back in time with us? I could've built an android too…" He glanced up at his counterpart, "Where'd you get the name? And…everything else that makes him a bio-android?"

"What, you mean like his heart and all that stuff?" Eli nodded in response. And Vitero-Eli smiled with pride as he placed his hand on his chest, "Believe it or not, but the other me replaced everything inside him with robotic parts. Heart, lungs, liver, everything that made me…me. And he preserved them until he finished building Tarvock. Oh yeah, he preserved them in the cryo-chambers on Destiny Two. And…I don't know where the other me got the name, really. I guess it just kinda came to him one day."

The marine on the right side of the door whistled, "That ain't similar at all to our universe, that's for sure." The marine on the left nodded in agreement.

"Then…what's keeping him alive?" Eli asked.

Just as Vitero-Eli was about to answer, the radio on the other marine's vest crackled, and Young's voice spoke, "Sgt. Sardone, I need you and Oliver in the infirmary right now." There was a pause as static crackled for a few moments. Then Young's voice spoke again, "And bring the other Eli with you."

ͼͽ

In Hydroponics, Dr. Park peered down at a tablet in her hands. She took a step towards the doorway, and then paused. She looked over her shoulder at Terra, who was leaning over a small culture of herbs that she had started caring for a few days after Destiny prevented her from returning to her planet. She carefully touched the small fragile leaves of one of the baby plants with a single short claw.

"Are you going to be alright by yourself Terra?" Dr. Park asked. "I just need to go and give an inventory report to Camille about our cultures."

Terra glanced over her shoulder at Dr. Park and gave a slight nod of her head, "I will be fine. I will tend to the cultures while you are gone."

Dr. Park nodded, "Okay. I won't be long." And she exited the room. She set off on a brisk pace down the corridor, glancing down at the tablet in her hand. She tapped a finger on the screen as her eyes quickly scanned over the data that she had entered to make sure that she had not left anything blank or mistakenly entered incorrect information. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, she looked back up and turned right around a corner. She jumped back, startled as she nearly collided with a female marine.

"Sorry Dr. Park," the marine apologized as she side stepped to the left around Dr. Park.

Dr. Park smiled, but did not say anything. She glanced at the name on the marine's uniform. It was Cpl. Barnes.

She continued down towards the end of the corridor. She stopped as an alarm sounded on the tablet. Dr. Park peered down at the tablet once more, and then continued after she dismissed the message. At the end of the corridor, she turned around the left corner. As she did, again she jumped back, startled as she nearly collided with another female marine. She recognized her as Lt. James.

"Sorry Dr. Park," Vanessa apologized as she side stepped to Dr. Park's right.

Again, Dr. Park smiled but said nothing. Absent-mindedly, she glanced at the name patch on Vanessa's uniform. It was blank.

Dr. Park continued down the corridor she had turned into. Suddenly, she stopped. She whipped her head around as she realized something. The name patch on Lt. Jame's uniform had been blank. She knew for a fact that Vanessa had a name patch on her uniform, and she knew that her name was on it. Yet there had been no name when she glanced at it. She quickly ran back to the corner and peered around it, but Lt. James was no where to be seen. Perhaps she had already reached the end of the corridor. Dr. Park shook her head, turned back and continued down the corridor. Maybe she just hadn't noticed the letters on the name patch.

For several minutes, she walked down the long corridor. She passed by a few open laboratories that were either vacant, or full of supply crates from New Novus. As she reached the end of the corner, she turned right around the corner but glanced over her left shoulder down the left end of the corridor when she heard a noise.

She froze as soon as she saw it.

Down at the end of the corridor, the distinct shape of Col. Addamo slowly walked towards the junction. His right arm was out behind him. In his right hand, which Dr. Park could see from where she stood was covered in blood, he dragged the limp and lifeless body of Lt. James. Her head hung limply, resting on her left shoulder and her eyes were wide open. Her throat had been slit open and blood spilled from the fresh wound down her neck, turning the front of her green uniform a very dark red, almost crimson color as it soaked through. A smeared trail of blood followed behind Addamo as he continued down the corridor.

Dr. Park could not take her eyes off of the horror. Fear froze her eyes and legs in place. She could only look on as Addamo walked away from her. Time seemed to slow down around her as she beheld the horrible sight. Suddenly, still walking in the opposite direction, Addamo turned his head and looked towards her over his right shoulder. But the eye that fell upon her was not that of Col. Addamo. Rather, what should have been white was jet black, while what she remembered being the sky blue color of his iris' was now a bright blood red, and there was no pupil.

Confusion mixed with her fear. Addamo's expression seemed very sad, almost as if he were in mourning. A single stream of blood streamed down from his eye, almost as if he were crying. And still, Dr. Park felt as if she were seeing all of this in slow motion. Then Addamo looked away as he turned left into the junction of corridors. As he turned, he looked over at her again, this time over his left shoulder. This eye was black and red as well. All of the scars that crisscrossed the left side of his face and muzzle were bleeding profusely, almost as if the wounds had just been inflicted upon him. He opened his jaws slightly and his long tongue slid out sideways from between his oblique and sharp teeth. His teeth seemed to have a thin coating of blood on them, and even his gums seemed to be bleeding as well. The expression on his face wasn't that of sadness any longer, rather it was that of madness. Dr. Park could see murder in his eye, even with no pupil.

And then Addamo disappeared behind the corner, and Vanessa's body slowly disappeared as it dragged over the floor.

No sooner had Vanessa's feet disappeared behind the corner, than did Dr. Park utter a subdued cry of terror. She turned, preparing to sprint back the way she had come, find anyone who could help her.

Addamo stood in her way, less than a foot away from her. She gasped and took a step back as she looked up at the Viterosaur. As she had seen, his eyes were black and red. A single stream of blood dripped from his right eye, and Dr. Park could see the shear sadness within the pool of red that was his right eye. The scars on the left side of his face and muzzle were all bleeding. His tongue lolled out the left side of his mouth, blood dripping from the tip of it. She could see nothing but bloodlust in his left eye. That's when the smell of sulfur filled her lungs.

ͼͽ

Terra stood up straight from where she had been caressing the leaves of the herbs that she had been caring for almost a week now. She glanced around the Hydroponics room; there was a large assortment of different plants, most green, some a variety of dark colors and others red, and many of the herbs gave off a flood of different aromas. She took a deep breath, the different smells of the herbs filling her lungs, soothing her. She took hold of the spray bottle that was used for misting the plants, and walked towards the rear of the room and began spraying the water onto the plants.

She enjoyed aiding Dr. Park in caring for these plants. Working in this laboratory brought back old memories to the surface. Ever since she was young, she would take time out of her days to run about the market isles that were nearby her home. There had always been an elderly male Petrus'iri that she enjoyed chatting with, and even helped him tend to the variety of vegetation that he had growing in his workshop. She always enjoyed those days. She would spend many hours trimming leaves and adding nutrients and acids to the soil for every plant. She learned about the different techniques of properly caring for each species of plant, as every one of them were grown under different conditions. But more often than not, she enjoyed listening to the elderly Petrus'iri tell her stories of his travels around the globe, seeing various plants that some may have never laid eyes on. His tales were both far-fetched, and fantastical. Perhaps he-

A long shriek pierced Terra's thoughts, startling her. The spray bottle dropped from her hand, and bounced off the floor twice. In a matter of seconds, Terra was out the door and sprinting as fast as her clawed feet could carry her down the corridor. _"That was Dr. Park. What has happened?"_ she thought as she slid to a halt at the end of the corridor. Dr. Park's scent turned right, and so Terra followed it down the right corridor, and then left down the even longer corridor. Off in the distance at the end of the corridor by the junction, Terra could see a limp figure lying on the floor. As she drew closer, Terra saw another figure squatting over the limp figure. Dr. Park lay on the floor, while Vanessa squat over her, checking her pulse. She quickly glanced up at Terra as she approached.

"What has happened?" Terra asked, slowing down as she drew nearer. "Is she alright?"

Vanessa shook her head frowning, "She's alright, but I don't know what happened. I was heading this way when I heard her scream."

Terra sniffed the air and grimaced. She covered her nostrils with her hand as she suppressed a cough. "What is that horrible stench?" she asked.

Vanessa looked up, and she too grimaced as she smelled it. "Sulfur. But where's it coming from?" She glanced down at Dr. Park as she stirred and opened her eyes, "Dr. Park, are you okay? What happened?"

Terra noticed the tablet lying by Dr. Park's side. She bent over and picked it up. The screen was cracked slightly, but it was still functional. Then Terra noticed a smear of red substance on one of the corners of the screen. She sniffed it and then jerked the tablet away from her. She found where the smell of sulfur was coming from, but what the substance was she was not sure.

"Dr. Park," Vanessa said again, "are you okay?"

Dr. Park's eyes locked onto Vanessa. She uttered a cry as she bolted upright and moved away from Vanessa, the color drained from her face, "But I saw you! You were dead!" She backed herself up against Terra's legs.

Vanessa was confused, "Huh? I was…dead?" She cast a worried glance up at Terra.

Terra bent down and rested one knee on the floor as she placed a hand on Dr. Park's shoulder, "Dr. Park, what ever do you mean? What happened?"

Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes as Dr. Park continued to stare at Vanessa, "He-he killed you! I saw him dragging you away! You were dead!"

Then Greer came rushing around the corner. He stopped and fell to his knees beside Dr. Park, "Hey, what happened? I heard you scream."

She raised a shaky hand and pointed at Vanessa, "He-he killed her!"

"What?" Greer asked as he looked up at Vanessa, who shook her head, indicating she had no idea.

"Dr. Park, you must calm down," Terra said. "We do not understand what you mean."

"How can I calm down when I just saw her dead and covered in blood?" Dr. Park shouted as she began to tremble.

Greer took hold of her hands and held them together, "Her hands are freezing." He held up a hand to her forehead, "She's running a fever."

Vanessa shook her head as she tried to make sense of what happened, "I was walking down this way when I heard her scream. She was on the ground when I got here, and her pulse was rapid." She looked at Dr. Park's face, noticing that her skin was as white as a sheet of paper. Dr. Park babbled quietly that she had seen Vanessa dead, and that someone had dragged her away, "She looks like she's seen a ghost."

"What is a ghost?" asked Terra.

"A ghost is basically a dead person that's still walking around without their body," Greer answered bluntly.

Terra glanced at him, "Do you mean a spirit?"

Greer nodded with a slight shrug, "Yeah, only ghosts scare you." He paused for a moment, and then added, "And so do demons." He drew Dr. Park closer to him as she began trembling more violently.

Suddenly, something seemed to click within Terra and she grew tense, "Perhaps she has seen a demon."

Vanessa gave Terra a quizzical look, "What do you mean? You think demons are real?"

Terra shook her head, then glanced at the tablet in her hand, "No…I don't think they're real…" She looked between Greer and Vanessa, "I know they're real."

ͼͽ

"I didn't do it!" Addamo bellowed as the marine Young had called Sgt. Joseph Sardone shoved him into an empty room with his hands bound behind his back. Another marine pushed Vitero-Eli and Tarvock into the room as well, but their hands were not bound. Addamo stumbled forward and fell to his knees, but quickly recovered and spun around, his tail swinging around from the force of his spin, "Everett, I'm telling you I didn't do it!"

"You expect me to believe you that easily?" Young said as he stepped inside the doorway, hold his hands crossed over one another in front of him.

"Everett, we've got a bigger problem right now, I'm telling you!" Addamo shouted. "Locking me up isn't going to solve anything. Right now, there's an even bigger security threat roaming this ship than me!"

"Oh? And I suppose you know what it is?" Young asked, his suspicion rising.

"No!" Addamo growled. He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to understand how he hadn't sensed the danger before his security was attacked. "I'm standing in the observatory one minute having a nice smoke, and the next thing I knew your men were on the floor. One dead, the other unconscious. I don't know how it happened, but it wasn't me! Something that is able to evade my instincts for that long is a major security threat, even greater than the Replicators!"

Tarvock stared at Addamo, his eyes analyzing everything that was invisible to the naked eye, "He speaks the truth, Col. Young." The bio-android turned his head towards Young, "His blood pressure if through the roof. He is obviously scared beyond belief."

Vitero-Eli looked at Addamo, "The Col.? Scared? Of what?"

Addamo shook his head, "I don't know. All I know is that my instincts told me to get out of there. I've never been so…afraid in my life." He closed his eyes as he remembered the dead marine's face, "Sergeant Major Kim…the look in his eyes…" Addamo swayed a little as he became nauseous, "Sulfur."

Young furrowed his eyebrows at that, "What?"

"Sulfur." Addamo looked up and locked eyes with Young, "I smelled sulfur…after it happened." Suddenly, his eyes rolled up and his knees buckled beneath him, and he slumped forward.

Tarvock quickly caught him before he hit the ground. He moved towards the bed, and carefully laid the limp Viterosaur on the covers of the bed. "Are these restraints really necessary, Col.?" he asked as he indicated the plastic cuffs around Addamo's wrists.

Young motioned for one of the marine's to undo the cuffs. Sgt. Sardone walked into the room, and removed the cuffs from Addamo's wrists. Then he quickly retreated back to the door.

"So, what are you going to do with us now?" Vitero-Eli asked as he stared aimlessly at Addamo.

Young shrugged, "I don't know. Keep you here until I figure out what to do with you." And with that, he turned and moved to exit out the door.

Tarvock stopped him, "Col." Young stopped and looked over his shoulder at the bio-android, "I don't know what happened in the observatory that frightened Col. Addamo so much, but I know that it's not friendly." The bio-android turned and set his bright yellow stare upon Young, "Of all the years I've known Col. Addamo, both him and the first him, I've never seen him this scared before. Whatever it was that he saw or felt, it is very dangerous and it is obviously able to conceal its presence from us and you. I suggest you watch your back and be wary of who you trust."

Young stood in the doorway for another moment, remaining silent. Without a word, he exited the room. The marine's followed, and the doors closed and locked.

"So." Vitero-Eli said with a loud sigh, "I guess we're prisoners now too."

Tarvock nodded, "And we'll remain prisoners until we can prove that Col. Addamo's cry for innocence is genuine."

"How do we do that? We don't even know what happened."

'I know," Tarvock replied. "All we can do now is pray that the humans figure out what's going…before they're killed by whatever Col. Addamo saw."

ͼͽ

Dr. Weir hadn't moved from her spot by the window since Theogret and the others went into hibernation. Many thoughts had gone through her mind, and just as many questions emerged from them as well. But the questions became too cluttered, so she ceased thinking about the ships mission, about the purpose of the crew being here…about her own destiny.

Instead, she occupied herself by letting her memories take her back to the days she spent commanding the mission on Atlantis. She reminisced the many times Atlantis had come under attack, both by the Wraith, and the Geni. She knew that the Wraiths' might had been drastically reduced since Michael's rise to power. She knew about Michael's eventual defeat, and the unexpected arrival of the Wraith on Earth's doorstep. But had the Wraith attack been thwarted, she did not know. All she knew was that the Asuran Replicators had essentially taken control of the entire Pegasus galaxy a year after Atlantis returned to Earth. All she knew was that no sooner had Oberoth been eliminated, she had been elected to lead the Replicator nation. All she cared about now was starting over, beginning a new life in another galaxy deep in the depths of the universe. She no longer wished to lead an empire, she just wanted to explore the depths of the universe for the remainder of her life, however long that was.

She sighed. It seemed that fate had other plans for her. It seemed that her destiny was with the people of the planet Earth, the planet she once called home and its people her friends.

As she gazed out the window, she became aware of the feeling of being watched. She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see Theogret admiring her, but he was still in the same spot where he had been when he went into hibernation. So she turned and resumed watching the green and blue hues flash by the window. But the feeling of being watched persisted and eventually, it began to change from just a feeling of being observed to a menacing feeling. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as it persisted. It was a malevolent feeling, as if whatever was watching her was patiently waiting for her to drop her guard so it may strike. She distinctly felt a presence around her, a dark and foreboding presence, one like she hadn't felt in many years. It was almost as if a Wraith was stalking her in a dark network of hallways. She had the sense that whatever was watching her, there was a murderous intent to its presence.

But she knew there were no Wraith here. If there had been Wraith on this ship, then no humans would have greeted her when she walked through the Stargate. So there was no way for her to be attacked, especially since she was in a confined room that was being guarded. So she ignored it as best as she could. After about ten minutes, the menacing feeling subsided until it faded away completely. Dr. Weir glanced over her shoulder again and scanned the room. Positive that the malevolent feeling was gone, she resumed gazing out the window, and immersed herself within her old memories once more.

ͼͽ

Dr. Cook stood next to Jack in the communication stones room, finishing his explanation to Jack what the significance of his discovery about the stones meant for the eighth time. Daniel sat in the chair in front of the laptops. Dr. Cook turned and looked at the back of Daniel's head, "I'm telling you Dr. Jackson, it shouldn't be happening. Those readings are telling me that the connection is being severed, and their minds are going back to their respective bodies." He glanced over at Scott, who stood on the other side of Jack, "Lt. Scott shouldn't be in Dr. McKay's body right now."

"But I'm still here," Scott said. "If the transfer is being reversed, then why am I still here?"

Dr. Cook shrugged, "That I can't explain. All I can come up with is that there is something interfering with the transfer. Something is preventing the process from finishing. Essentially, there's something either over on their end, or something here that's stopping you from returning to your body. And that goes for Col. Carter and the…creature."

Daniel swiveled around in the chair to face the three of them. He rubbed his eyes, "Just when I needed Rodney the most, something happens."

"Hey," Jack said, "it's not like problems like this _haven't_ happened before…right?"

Daniel shrugged and looked away, unsure of how to answer.

"Right," Jack said, clapping his hands together. "So, interference?"

Dr. Cook nodded, "Yeah, that's the best possible answer I could think of. Either here, or over on their side."

"Then how do we tell them?" Scott asked.

Dr. Cook shrugged, "That, I can't answer either. But I do know that once we find whatever is interfering with the reversed transfer, then you and Dr. McKay should return to your respective bodies. The same goes for Col. Carter and the creature."

"Alright, so we just gotta find whatever it is, turn it off, and we'll finally get this problem over with," Daniel said. "Only one problem with that…how do we even know what's interfering with the reversed transfer?"

Dr. Cook opened his mouth to give an answer but stopped. He had no answer. He was unsure of what the answer was or how they were going to find it. He shrugged.

"Well, whatever it is," Jack said swinging his arms back and forth, "we better start looking."

ͼͽ

Sam opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything, so she blinked a few times until her vision cleared and the metal ceiling appeared. She was confused when she looked down the length of a nose that wasn't hers. She raised her hand; it was covered in fur and there were only four fingers, each with an inch and a half long black claw on the end instead of fingernails. Then she realized that she was still in Riverstone's body, rather than her own. She was still on Destiny.

Sam groaned as she sat up, propping herself up with a hand against the bed as her head started to spin. TJ swiveled around in the chair she sat in, "Col. Carter?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, it's me."

TJ stood up from the chair and approached Sam where she sat on top of the infirmary bed, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, other than the worst headache I've ever had," said Sam, wincing as her head began to throb.

"Do you…remember anything?" TJ asked. "Do you remember anything you shouldn't be?"

Sam turned her head towards TJ, "What do you mean, Lt.?"

"Dr. McKay woke up a few hours ago…with all of Scott's memories."

"What? How's that possible?" Sam asked.

TJ shrugged, "We're not sure. Dr. McKay went to try and figure that out."

Sam heard someone groan on her left. She turned her head and saw a marine lying on the bed next to her, a neck brace wrapped around his neck. "What happened to him?"

"Col. Addamo came into the infirmary with him, saying something had attacked his security," TJ replied. "He looked…scared." Sam turned to look at TJ again, "He looked really scared. But Col. Young wouldn't believe him, so he restrained him."

"He locked Addamo up?"

TJ nodded, "I don't know if it's the right thing to do. I mean, if Col. Addamo meant to kill Sgt. Kim and Cpl. Higgs, why would he bring Higgs to the infirmary? And why would he look so…scared?"

Sam shook her head, "I don't know." She winced again as her head throbbed again. "Get me an aspirin, will you?" TJ nodded and left the side of the bed. She went over to a glass cabinet and opened one of the cabinet doors. As she searched for the right medication, Sam's head throbbed yet again. And then, the infirmary faded around her. She stood in total darkness.

Suddenly, the flood of memories started…memories that were not hers, that were completely alien to her. She remembered how, as a young Viterosaur, she always wanted to join the military, to help in the war against the rebel terrorists that threatened the unity of Earth. She had always wanted to fight beside her mother and father, help them kill those who wanted to rule the world with their anarchical beliefs. She remembered the absolute sadness and hatred she felt during her mother's funeral, how she wanted to destroy those who took something so precious, something so dear to her. Sam remembered how excited she was when she learned that the military had decided to recruit her. She remembered how she advanced through the ranks very quickly, and how she had become the youngest Viterosaur in military history to reach the rank of Colonel at the age of just nineteen. She remembered the countless battles she fought, how she had won so many of them with her trusted sword. She remembered how she felt when she beheaded the leader of the rebel forces, the man responsible for so many people dying, the man responsible for her mother's death. She remembered when she was recruited to the Stargate Program, how she was amazed by the idea of traveling millions of light-years in just a matter of seconds.

Then, the intimate memories of when she met Thomas Addamo, the handsome young, and proud, 2nd Lieutenant of SG-2, the largest SG team. She remembered how close they became when she and him were reassigned to fight alongside Jack, Teal'c, Sam and Daniel. Sam remembered when Tom proposed to her, on the sands of an alien beach at an alien ocean, just as two alien suns set behind the horizon. She remembered how she had not hesitated to say yes. Sam already knew what it felt like to love, but this feeling of love was very different from the one she knew. This feeling was very intimate.

Then the memory of the day she first went into labor came to the surface. She couldn't begin to describe what it felt like to go into labor. But the memory turned south, and utter dread filled her as the memory progressed. Her child was stillborn. The child was beautiful, but there was no life within her small frame. Sam finally understood what it meant to be a mother and how devastating it is to know that her child was not alive upon emerging into the world.

Two more similar memories followed, each even more dreadful than the last. No matter how many times they may have tried to have children, she and Tom would never be parents of beautiful children. The knowledge that she and Tom could never start a family had almost sent her over the edge after the third time. She remembered how long she had mourned after the loss of the third child. But she still had Tom, and eventually she had emerged from her shell, and resumed her adventures with Tom and SG-1 around the Milky Way galaxy, meeting many Viterosaurs of other planets. The diversity of the cultures between herself and her alien cousins had always amazed her. With her failed motherhood behind her, she knew that she had to continue forward if she wanted to live a happy life. The years of memories with Tom and SG-1 flashed by. And then the day came when she was promoted to the rank of General. Alongside her in the same promotional ceremony, Tom was promoted to Colonel. It was a day that brought them closer to one another than ever before. They may not be able to enjoy the adventurous lives of parents, but they would forever enjoy the adventurous lives of husband and wife, traveling through the galaxy, seeing sights that no ordinary Viterosaur ever would see.

More memories flashed by; memories of the final battles against the Goa'uld, of the war against the Ori, of defeating Ba'al, the many countless battles against the formidable Lucian Alliance, of Atlantis, and finally of her adventures through the universe onboard Destiny. The memories slowly began to fade, but the feelings she felt from those memories, particularly those of Tom, stayed for a few minutes longer. The last prominent memory to flash by was her thirtieth birthday, which had happened only two weeks ago, in her home universe. Eventually, they too faded and the memories stopped flowing. Before she knew it, she was in the infirmary once more. Sam let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding the whole while she was experiencing the alien memories. Tears blotted her vision, and rolled over the fur on her cheekbones. Tears? She was crying. But why was she crying? These memories weren't hers, yet she felt as if she had lived these memories, as if they were her own memories from the start. _"Such a short life with so many memories,"_ Sam thought as she caught one of the tears on the tip of a black claw and looked at the wobbling globule of water.

Sam finally understood what Riverstone felt. She finally understood the life of a Viterosaur, and what it was like being stranded on a ship far from home, far from her father…far from her universe. She finally understood the struggles of motherhood. She finally understood…Shandra Riverstone.

TJ appeared beside Sam, a clear plastic cup full of water in one hand, and a small white pill resting in the palm of her other hand. She was looking passed Sam, at Cpl. Higgs, as he had just stirred. Her attention returned to Sam when she sniffed, and TJ noticed the tears rolling down over the white of her fur. More tears welled up at each corner of the eye facing towards TJ. "Col.? Are you alright?"

Sam blinked, and the fresh tears quickly rolled over her fur and fell onto the cloth of the bed with soft pats, "I…" She couldn't continue her sentence.

"You remember?" asked TJ. "You remember her life, don't you?"

Sam nodded slowly, unable to answer. She sniffed once more before she wiped the tears from her fur and gathered up her composure. She looked at TJ, "Yeah, I know her. I know who she is…and I know that she just wants to go home."

"Then Rush was right," TJ stated. "He was right about them. They really are here by a freak chance, not to take over the ship like Young thinks."

Sam nodded, "Yeah. Which means that To-…Col. Addamo is innocent. He has no reason to cause any of us harm." TJ gave her a look when she stopped herself from saying Addamo's first name, "These people just want to go home. I would know," her gaze wandered and looked off aimlessly into the empty corridor leading to the infirmary, "because I have General Riverstone's memories…all of them."

Å

End Chapter 7


	8. Black and Hollow

**10/22/12 Hey readers! I know I have a lot of apologizing to do by leaving you guys hanging with my SGU fan fic. But I hope you guys understand that I just eventually lost the spark of creativity to continue writing the fan fic. It just...kinda began to die on me, you know? I just wasn't sure if I wanted to keep going. But I wasn't going to leave it on chapter 7 and call it finished. No, I was intending to come back to the story at a later date when I got the spark to continue writing it. Well, fear not! Because last week I picked up that spark of creativity. And I finally completed Chapter 8 after it has been sitting on my harddrive half finished for a bit over 8 months now. Again, sorry to keep you guys hanging for so long. But hopefully this spark of creativity will last another year.****  
><strong>That being said, reason I picked up the story again was because I was working on the beginning to Chapter 9 of my IC continuation(which btw, has already displayed some scifi elements), and I kinda drew a blank on how I wanted the chapter to go. I mean, I knew where I wanted the chapter to go, but I...was just drawing a blank. So, in dire need to do some writing, I opened up the half finished Chapter 8, this chapter, and read it. That's when the creativity juices started flowing again, and work on Chapter 8 of my SGU fan fic was rekindled.<strong>  
><strong>So, enjoy the read guys! And remember to do me the favor of LEAVING SOME FEEDBACK! If you don't then I won't know where to take this story without your input. SO PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME REVIEW!<br>6/18/13 Hey guys! Just a minor update to the story. I made a few changes to a bit of the story to keep it consistent with what I have planned for the 12th chapter. I got a bit carried away with chapter 12, and I had to rewrite it to keep it...well, to keep it in check and staying true to the model of a well written and consistent story. Just thought I'd update you all on that. As for chapter 12...that probably won't be released for another few weeks. Sorry to tell you guys.****

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><p>216/12

Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum

By: Filip Lesiczka

This story was written by and is copyrighted to Filip Lesiczka. Please do not reproduce or distribute without permission.

This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

Black and Hallow

Rush sighed. His frustration had grown higher than it had ever been before. He sat alone in the bridge. In his frustration, he threw his pen across the floor. Why is Destiny keeping him out of her systems? It had been two weeks since Terra had become a member of the crew, two weeks since the Viterosaurs had arrived from their universe. Never mind the activity that happened yesterday, he had to gain control of the ship once more. But Rush wasn't sure how much more of the frustration he could take before he snapped. There had been no attempt made to rewrite the master code, yet Destiny would not accept commands. The ship truly had developed a consciousness of its own, it was truly aware of itself…it seemed that it had become an organism in its own right.

Drawing a long breath, he stood up from the command chair and retrieved his pen. The little clip had broken off from the impact with the floor. Rush cursed under his breath and returned to the chair, picking up his notebook again.

As he sat down in the chair, Destiny dropped out of FTL. Rush half expected Young's voice to crackle over the radio, telling him that the gate was being activated. And Young's voice did crackle over the radio, "Rush, what's going on?"

Rush picked up the radio and replied, "I'm not sure, I-" He stopped when an alarm sounded from the screen in front of him on the console surrounding the chair. He leaned forward and inspected the data that was being shown to him.

Young's voice sounded suspicious as he spoke from the radio again, "What is it?"

Another voice joined the radio conversation; it was Chloe. "Col. Young, this is Chloe."

"Go ahead," Young's voice replied.

Static concealed Chloe's voice for a moment before it cleared up, "-want to come down to the observatory."

"I'm on my way," Young answered.

"I'm on my way as well," Rush spoke into the radio. The readings on the screen had stirred him. He had seen these readings before, but he hadn't seen them in quite some time. It couldn't be what he thought the readings were telling him. Was this really some sort of cookie-crumb trail left behind by some long extinct ancient race? Was it deliberately left behind? Was it intended for them to find this trail? Rush wasn't sure, but he was sure he wouldn't find an answer anytime soon.

He stood up from the chair, and quickly rushed out of the bridge, bringing his notebook with him.

ͼͽ

"Tarvock, look!" Vitero-Eli exclaimed as he pointed a claw outside the window. The room had flooded with a brilliant purple light no sooner had Destiny dropped out of FTL.

The bio-android walked over beside Vitero-Eli and looked in the direction he had pointed. For a moment, he did say anything as his cat-like pupils narrowed and dilated slightly. Then he let out a soft gasp, "My…god, what in the Ancients' names is that? That can't be a star!"

Vitero-Eli joined him in looking through the window, "I thought the same thing. But look! There's a planet orbiting around it!

Addamo stirred, "What the hell's all the yelling for?" He sat upright in the bed and rubbed his right eye. He blinked when he saw that the room had taken on a very strange purple hue, "And why's the room all…purple?" No on answered him, so he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and stood up. He walked over to where Vitero-Eli and Tarvock stood by the window, standing just behind Tarvock who looked over his left shoulder.

"A purple star," Tarvock said in awe. "I never thought it was possible for a star to have such a color."

"There's gotta be something more to this," Vitero-Eli said, joining in Tarvock's awe. "Of all the years that astronomers and scientists studied the stars, there's never been a report of a purple star!"

Addamo gazed in amazement at the sight outside the window, but maintained an air of indifference, "This isn't our universe, Eli. Who knows what's different and what's similar between our universes'. Maybe the physics of stars in this universe function differently than our universe."

Tarvock shook his head, "I don't think that's likely, Col. From what I'm seeing, that's a class G star." Tarvock turned an eye towards Addamo, who was giving him a blank look. "Class G meaning a normal sun-type star. It's burning just as brightly as Earth's sun, and it's H and K lines of calcium II are just as prominent as the Sun's H and K lines. Its hydrogen lines are just as weak, and it has just as much of an equal amount of neutral metals and ionized metals."

"And that means absolutely nothing to me," Addamo said as he looked back at the bright purple star.

"Basically, that star should be the same color as the sun you grew up under when you were still living on Earth," Tarvock replied. "It should be yellow, not purple."

"Hmmm," was all that Addamo said in response.

ͼͽ

Rush slowed as he entered the observatory, which was flooded with a strange hue of brilliant purple. Young was leaning on the guardrail as he gazed out at the spectacle, as were Terra, Chloe, Eli, Greer, Dr. Park, McKay, three other scientists and four marines. It was quiet in the observatory; no one spoke a word, or even a whisper. Everyone was in absolute awe of the sight before them.

Rush slowly walked towards the group, and stood next to Young. He placed his hands on the guardrail and leaned forward. Young glanced over at Rush as he leaned forward. The brilliant purple glare from the star was reflected off of his glasses, obscuring his eye's from Young's view. "Incredible," said Rush.

"Is it…even real?" Chloe asked as she stared at the marvelous burning purple sphere floating in the darkness of space.

"Aye," answered Rush, "it's real. The scans say it's a class G star, a star very much like our own Sun."

"But why's it purple?" asked Eli. "Last time I checked, our sun was yellow. And from what I already know about class G stars, they are all pretty much yellow in color."

"But this one ain't," Greer said as he held Dr. Park close to him. She only stared blankly at the star.

"I thought it was only a myth," said Terra. "I did not for a moment believe that the tale was actually referring to an actual star."

Rush turned his head toward Terra, as did Eli. "There's a myth about a purple star?" asked Eli.

Terra nodded, "Yes. It was only mentioned for a brief time in logs from the first crew members of the Gerx'anj'ma."

"Gerx…what?" said Greer upon hearing the name.

"Forgive me," said Terra as she bowed her head towards Greer, "I keep forgetting that you do not know my people as well as your descendants do." She returned her deep blue gaze back towards the star, "The Gerx'anj'ma was an alien vessel, fairly similar to this one, that my people discovered a little under two million years ago."

"What?!" McKay exclaimed. "An Ancient vessel two million years ago?! How-"

"Dr. McKay, please," Rush said, frustrated by the interruption. "Let Terra tell her story."

McKay nodded and fell silent, but obviously was greatly disturbed by what Terra had just said. Terra continued, "After quite a few years of experimenting with the different controls, and after the discovery of a vast room filled with Stargates, my people began to plant the devices on many planets throughout the Rempta galaxy."

"A seed ship," Rush said quietly.

Terra heard him and nodded, "So it would seem. For the next hundred and fifteen years, the first crew of the Gerx'anj'ma traveled the galaxy, seeing sights that no Petrus'iri ever thought of seeing during that time. Only a month before the first crew was to retire and relinquish their positions to a new set of crew members, they happened upon…this star."

Terra shook her head, "There had been no order to stop at this star system, but the ship had ceased travel upon detecting this star. No one could understand how or why such a star could exist. No body understood the stars strange color. All indications said that this star, should not have existed."

"So, why's it a myth?" asked Eli. "Shouldn't the ship have stored the discovery of the star in its data logs?"

Terra nodded, "It should have. But no one could locate the data that was supposedly stored. The only information of this star was from the words of the crew members in their logs. So, no one ever believed their story, and thus it became a myth. And it has remained a myth for the last one and a half million years…until now."

"Until now," Rush repeated Terra's words. His eyes drifted from the brilliant purple star to the planet that orbited around it. "The star should not exist, and neither should the planet."

"That sounds too familiar," observed Greer.

"Aye, it does," Rush responded with a nod.

"You don't think this is another one of those planets, do you?" Young asked.

"I don't think it is, I know it is," was Rush's reply. "The scans of the planet match the scans of the previous planet. The odd thing is, the scans are identical. Same atmosphere composition, same mass, same size and gravity, same orbital trajectory and axis tilt…and an obelisk. It is an exact copy of the previous planet we encountered."

"There is another planet such as this one?" Terra asked as she turned an eye towards Rush.

"Yes, and we believe that some advanced ancient race built these planets and stars," Rush said. "It's…almost like a cookie-crumb trail."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Greer stated. "This just can't be a coincidence."

"If the planet is identical to the last one we saw," said Eli, "then it'll probably be the same on the surface."

"Did your people explore the planet's surface?" Rush asked as he turned towards Terra, leaning against the guardrail on his left elbow.

Terra shook her head, "Unfortunately they did not. They feared that perhaps the emissions from the star would be harmful to them, so they did not visit it. Neither did they plant a Stargate on its surface."

Rush nodded.

"But why a purple star?" Eli asked. "It's just…weird!"

"Tav'ira Uni'ver'lu," said Terra after a moment.

"What?" Young said glancing at Terra.

"Roughly translated in your language," Terra replied, "it means Bizarre Star. It is also the name given to the myth."

"Looks like your people gave it a fitting name," said Young.

Silence fell among everyone in the observatory as they gazed at the strange beauty of the purple star before them. Eli pushed his hand into his pants pocket and withdrew his phone. He turned the boxy phone on its side and tapped the screen, taking a picture of perhaps the only purple star in existence.

The silence was broken when the radio in Rush's hand crackled, and Brody's voice spoke from it, "Dr. Rush, I just did a scan of the planet's surface…I'm seeing some strange signals coming from the planets surface."

Rush lifted the radio to his face, "Strange as in what, Mr. Brody?"

There was a moment of silence before Brody responded, "I'm not exactly sure what to make of it…but there's some kind of artificial radio patterns emitting from the place where the obelisk is."

"The last planet didn't have any kind of signals coming from the obelisk," Eli stated. "You think the aliens that made this planet are trying to tell us something now?" Eli cast a glance at Rush.

Rush shrugged, "I'm not sure. We won't know until we go down there."

Silence again took over the observatory for a few minutes. Then Greer broke the silence, "So, when do we go down?"

ͼͽ

The hours ticked by slowly. Vitero-Eli lay on his back on the bed, his tail drooping over the end of the bed and twitching side to side in frustration. Tarvock stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes following Addamo as he paced back and forth from the foot of the bed to the window.

"Tarvock," Addamo said as he paced back to the window to gaze in awe again at the purple star, "what if that's not a real star?"

The android Viterosaur cocked his head to one side as he thought about the question, "What do you mean 'not a real star'?"

"I mean what if it's not a natural star?" Addamo asked as he turned his neck and looked at Tarvock with his left eye, "What if it's artificial? What if it's a mechanical star?"

Tarvock crossed his left arm over his chest and rested his right elbow in his left hand and stroked the small tuft of fur on his chin. He was silent for a minute before he responded, "That would most likely explain why the color isn't natural." The android shook his head afterwards, "But I find it hard to believe that a massive piece of machinery like that would be able to withstand the tremendous heat and pressures it generates, nor how it would be able to create its own gravity. Not only that, but such a machine would require an infinite power source, and that power source would need to be many times more massive in size than this star is."

Addamo glanced back out the window, "Not necessarily."

Tarvock's eyes narrowed upon hearing Addamo's statement, "What do you mean, Col.?"

Addamo touched the large gem that was the star heart crystal, "What if the power source…is straight from the real thing?" He turned towards Tarvock and indicated the star heart crystal.

"It's possible," Tarvock replied with a slight nod, "but extracting the heart of a star is…a near impossible task in and of itself. I still can't understand how the Ancients managed to extract your star heart. Whatever race built these strange star systems would have needed technology far more advanced than the Ancients to extract the heart of the star without causing a catastrophic explosion."

"There are a lot of things about any universe that we don't understand, Tarvock," Addamo said. "Hell, the race that made these star systems could have made the universe for all we know."

Tarvock smiled, "It's an interesting theory, but unlikely. For a sentient race to 'create the universe,' there would have had to have been a previous universe from which they came from to create this one."

Addamo shrugged, "Hey, it's possible. I mean, look at where we are now. A…perpen-whatever universe that's three weeks behind our universe."

"So, you're really saying that this universe…isn't the first universe? That there was a universe before this one?" Vitero-Eli asked, joining the conversation from where he lay on his back on the bed.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Addamo said with a nod.

"Like I said before," Tarvock stated, "an interesting theory, but unlikely. Even if it were true, I don't see how any being from the previous universe would have been able to survive the extinction of their universe. Much less, I don't see how they'd be able to even create the Big Bang if they had nothing to start with."

"And just like I said before, there's still a lot about the universes' we don't know about," Addamo responded.

Vitero-Eli sat up in the bed, "No offense Col., but that's the craziest idea I've ever heard."

Addamo nodded, "Yeah, I know. But at this point…even the craziest ideas seem to be turning into reality. I mean, hell, we're in a universe that's not even parallel to our own but similar in so many ways…and there's another version of you walking around on this ship."

Vitero-Eli nodded absentmindedly, "Yeah, you have a point." He paused for a moment, thinking about something that had just occurred to him, "You know, from what I can tell…this universe has had it easier than we did."

Tarvock turned his heard towards Vitero-Eli, "Why do you say that?"

Vitero-Eli shrugged, "Besides Terra's people actually surviving the Jovorda parasite plague in this universe; the descendants made it to this galaxy coincidentally, Destiny is stocked up on supplies thanks to them too, Dr. Park got her eyes fixed up, TJ has a cure for her ALS…and the crew is like one big family. Everyone trusts each other, and no one's keeping secrets from each other."

Tarvock averted his gaze down to the floor, "Indeed, you're right."

"True, it does seem that way," Addamo stated, "but look at how many things are different to our universe. First off, what's different is there's no Destiny Two here, which means there are no descendants tagging along to help maintain the second ship. Second, there's no Tarvock in this universe, which is likely to their disadvantage. Thirdly…" Addamo lowered his gaze as his long pointed ears drooped down slightly, "TJ's baby didn't survive from the looks of it."

Vitero-Eli nodded, "I guess you're right."

"Not to mention what's similar," Addamo continued. "The Lucian's still attacked the SGC in this universe, but for a different reason. Terra is a member of the crew now, so it seems. And it looks like this Destiny is also being haunted by some kind of killer ghost or something." He shuddered as he remembered his recent experience in the observatory.

"But something's different about the last part," Tarvock added when he noticed Addamo shudder.

"Yeah," Addamo replied, "it's…worse than in our universe."

"Worse? How can it be worse?" Vitero-Eli inquired.

Addamo met Tarvock's gaze, "I've never been so scared in my life, at least not since my first mission through the Stargate. Not only that…but it seems like whatever this thing is, it's real and stronger…unlike our killer ghost."

"You don't think it's a rogue VI like our entity was?" the android asked.

Addamo shook his head, "No. Unless VI's in this universe are capable of actually producing smells and actually physically killing someone, I don't think the ghost is a VI. I think they've got something far worse than what we had in our universe."

"If it's that bad," Vitero-Eli said

ͼͽ

"Are you sure you'll be alright Col.?" TJ asked as she helped Sam off of the bed.

"Yeah," Sam replied as she hopped of the edge of the bed. "I just have to keep reminding myself of who I really am, and I should be okay."

"I still think you should stay here Col.," TJ insisted, "at least for a little while longer. I mean, you're practically two different people in the same body at this point, not to mention that it's not your own body."

Sam looked at TJ with her right eye, "I'll be fine, Lt. I've been in tougher situations than this. Besides, someone has to fix the stones."

TJ nodded, "Alright. Just…be careful Col., and don't overexert yourself. Having the memories of someone else will most likely be very taxing on your brain."

Sam nodded with a smile as she left TJ in the infirmary.

As she made her way through the confusing network of similar hallways and junctions, Sam couldn't help but glance over her shoulder every now and then. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. It wasn't just like the feeling of being watched from a distance, but more so like the feeling of being watched by something menacing. She kept her ears pointed slightly back, straining to hear if there were any footsteps to tell her that she was being followed. But she never heard anything, even with her acute hearing. The fur on the back of her shoulders began rising up to stand on end.

Sam's prey instincts were telling her to find someplace to hide, to make a quick dash to get away from whatever was watching her. But something in her gut told her to just ignore the feeling and to not show any fear. Her gut told her that it would go away soon enough, just like the time when she and Carter had become separated from Teal'c, Daniel, Jack and Tom on a goa'uld occupied-

_"No!"_ Sam shook her head. She was Carter. She was Col. Samantha Carter of the SGC, former commanding officer of the Atlantis expedition. This was her universe, the one she was born in. She was a human being!

_"Damnit,"_ Sam thought to herself as she continued walking down a long corridor, _"I'm not going to lose myself. Not now, not ever. I can handle this. I just need to concentrate on my memories."_

ͼͽ

Sam reached the communication stones room to find Brody and McKay looking over the laptop with the connection data readings.

McKay looked up at Sam, surprised to see that Riverstone was still wandering about the ship, "General Riverstone? Young didn't lock you up?"

Sam shook her head, "No Rodney, it's me."

"Sam?"

Sam nodded her head as she walked around the table to stand on Brody's right side where he sat in the chair at the table.

Brody looked up at Sam, "You're probably wondering why you have all of the General's memories, right?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, how'd you-?"

McKay answered her question before she could finish it, "I've got the same problem. Seems the stones had some kind of glitch. The robot said that we probably ended up being both in these bodies and our own bodies back on Earth at the same time."

"Tarvock?" Sam asked as she put her hands on the table and leaned forward to get a better look at the data readings.

"Yeah," Brody said. "He and I think that maybe there was some kind of reverse feedback that happened during the glitch, which would explain why you would have General Riverstone's memories. But it still doesn't explain why you and Dr. McKay are still here on the Destiny when the communications pedestal is turned off."

Sam noticed that the pedestal was switched off upon Brody mentioning it. "If it's off, we shouldn't be here," she stated.

"Which we know already," McKay added.

Sam pondered something as she studied the data readings. "The connections are severed…but this still says that the connections are reversed."

"Which would indicate that we're returning to our bodies," McKay said. "Yet we're not."

"I can see that Rodney," Sam said as she glanced up at him for a moment. McKay looked embarrassed as he looked back at the laptop screen. "The connection is both severed, yet the process of transferring our minds back to our bodies is still going on. Is there any record of the readings when the glitch happened?"

Brody nodded and pulled up the data recordings in a separate window.

That's when Sam instantly recognized something about the recordings. She'd seen something like this many years before, "It's not a glitch."

McKay looked up at Sam, "What? What do you mean 'it's not a glitch'?"

Sam pointed to a spot on the chart where the peaks and dips changed from subtle to erratic, "If this were a glitch with the stones, then there would have been a pause in these patterns, a flat reading before it changed. That, and all of the peaks would be the same size with an equal spacing between them." She shook her head, "But there's no flat reading here." Sam glanced up at McKay with her left eye, "The stones are being hacked into, Rodney. Someone or something is trying to take over our bodies."

ͼͽ

"Come on Col.," Eli said insistently as he hurried after Young, who was walking back to the bridge with Rush, "you're misunderstanding them."

Young stopped abruptly and turned towards Eli, "I'm misunderstanding them? Eli, you've only been back for three days, and you're saying I'm misunderstanding them. Hell, we barely even known them."

"My point exactly, Col.," Eli said with confidence. He held a tablet in his right hand, which he shifted to his left, "We barely even know them, but I feel like I know…umm, me. Col., I'm just asking you to be a little more trusting." He glanced over Young's shoulder towards Rush, who had already reached the end of the corridor. He looked back at Young, "Especially now. I know there's all this crap going with pretty much the whole universes' attention on Destiny, but you gotta at least be a bit more trusting."

"And you trust the words of someone you don't know?" Young asked as he narrowed his eyes a bit.

Eli shrugged, "I wouldn't exactly say I trust Tarvock's words…but I believe him. I believed him when he said he'd never seen the Col. that afraid. And I think he was right to say to watch our backs."

"What do you mean?"

Eli held up the tablet, "Greer gave this to me. It's Dr. Park's." He pointed to a dark brown smear on a corner of the screen, "He said that Dr. Park said something about smelling sulfur when she saw Col. Addamo covered in blood. And Terra said that when she picked up the tablet, this stuff was fresh and smelled like sulfur."

"And?" Young said, unsure of where this was going. "What does a brown smear have to do with trusting people from another universe?"

"Col. Addamo said he smelled sulfur just before he found Cpl. Higgs on the ground." Young glanced down at the tablet in Eli's hand and Eli again pointed to the brown smear, "I think whatever or whoever attacked Dr. Park may have left us some evidence."

Young nodded, realizing that Eli may have found something of interest, "Alright. Get it down to TJ and have her run some tests on it, now. I want to know what the hell this thing is that's attacking my people, and how the hell we're going to kill it." Eli nodded and turned to run back down the corridor. Young called after him, "And Eli." Eli stopped and glanced back at Young, "I hope you're right about trusting them."

ͼͽ

Terra sat in her quarters, resting on the bed with her back propped up against the wall. Her raptor-like feet pointed away from her, one leg crossed over the other. She held her tablet in one hand as she quickly skimmed the surface of the tablet with the knuckle of her other index finger.

She was uneasy by what Dr. Park had told her only a few hours before, when she finally found her voice again. _"I hope it's not what I fear it to be,"_ she thought to herself as she tapped the surface of the tablet twice and a white screen opened up with a loading symbol in the middle. A number of files appeared in the screen, and Terra scrolled down until she found what she was looking for.

_"I thought it to only have been a legend,"_ she thought as she waited for the file to open. _"They disappeared over ten thousand years ago with their technology! This can't be possible."_ And then, Terra froze upon seeing what the words of her language on the screen were telling her.

It had only been encountered once within the ten thousand year gap between the Tojeq disappearing to the present day.

"No," Terra said, her fear mounting with every line she read on the encounter. The legend was no legend…it was fact. Her eyes darted between every line as she read.

Seventy-three hundred years ago, while her race was fighting the Jovorda plague, a small group of young scientists broke every law forbidding them from venturing to the home world of the Tojeq. They ventured to the planet in search of an explanation for the disappearance of the entire race of the Tojeq, and their technology. They only recovered one piece of possible technology; a micro-core of a data unit of a Tojeq supercomputer.

Upon activating the micro-core back on the Petrus'iri home world…hell was unleashed upon them. The micro-core had been part of a supercomputer that contained a threat far more dangerous than any Tojeq weapon of mass destruction.

An organic AI.

"Hezhok!" Terra shouted. The tales of demons weren't of evil entities of the supernatural…they were of the Tojeq organic AI.

Terra leaped off of the bed with the tablet in hand. She bounded to the door and slammed the button to open the door. As the door open, a surprised Eli, who had heard her shouting, was looking up at her from where he lay on his bed in his quarters on the opposite side of the junction.

"Eli, you must warn Dr. Rush that we-" Terra said as she turned left as she exited her quarters, but dropped her words mid-sentence upon seeing the most terrifying sight she'd ever seen at the opposite end of the corridor. Her blue eyes widened with fear upon the gruesome sight.

Eli sensed something was wrong and rolled off his bed. "You okay, Terra?" he asked as he approached her, with his radio in hand. He glanced down the corridor to see what Terra was staring at, and froze.

It was a gruesome sight indeed. The creature looked like a mix between a velociraptor and a praying mantis. Its triangular head was large, with its mandibles and mouth being the point, while two large plates made up the crude flat end of it crested head. Two large faceted and unblinking eyes watched Terra and Eli. Its mandibles shifted constantly, as if it were chewing or finishing the last bite of something it had just devoured. Several streams saliva ran from the creatures jaws and toothed mandibles like a sink faucet that had not been turned off properly.

Its raptor-like body was covered in plate-like structures, with large spines rising up along its back ridge. Its arms were very insect-like, with the classic exoskeleton structure and curled forearms like that of a praying mantis. It's raptor-like feet possessed the same killing claw that every nimble raptor on Earth had. A long thin tail twice as long as its body slowly curled from side to side as the monster watched them. Its tail reminded Eli of the alien from the movie Alien.

The monsters body appeared almost as if it were melting. A reddish-brown viscous mucus-like substance covered the monsters entire body. This viscous substance ran down the creature's body and appendages, dripping down onto the floor with sickening splats. Then, the caustic smell of sulfur reached Eli and Terra's noses.

"Oh shi-" Eli said but was interrupted by the monster as it parted its mandibles, tilted its head back so the dark void of its mouth was visible to him and Terra, and let out a shrill and guttural roar.

ͼͽ

Greer looked up towards the mess hall door, as did everyone else within the large room.

"What the hell was that?" Varro asked as he stood up and walked over to the door.

Greer followed after him, "I dunno. But we're goin' to go and find out." He unbuttoned the flap on his pistol holster, removed the handgun and handed it to Varro.

Varro took the weapon without a word, and the two of them set off at a run out of the mess hall in the direction they'd heard the eerie noise come from.

ͼͽ

Terra's right hand landed on Eli's left shoulder, turning him around to face the other direction as she pushed on him. "Run!" she shouted. But Eli was already one step ahead of her as he sprinted down the corridor. Terra was hot on his heels as well, her talons scratching against the hard floors surface.

Behind her, Terra could hear the heavy footfalls of the Tojeq organic AI as it gave chase. With each step it took, Terra could hear its exoskeletal plates shifting and its talons carving deep gouges into the floor. It let loose another roar. Terra quickly glanced over her shoulder; the AI was gaining on them, and fast.

As Eli ran for his life, he pressed the button on his radio and shouted, "I need help! There's an alien on the ship! Somebody help!"

They ran down corridor after corridor, trying to elude the monstrosity. But despite their efforts to lose it, the creature kept pace with them.

As they both dashed down the corridor, Terra's mind raced. From what she'd seen, the AI would fall upon here in a few more seconds if she did not pick up her pace. But Terra's instinct as Global Bastion Operative told her to stay behind her crewmate, to keep herself between the defenseless Eli and the threat. She watched Eli, analyzing his pace carefully as her mind raced; he was slowing down, and soon the AI wouldn't be upon her, but it would be upon both of them. She glanced back; the monster was almost on top of her, its spiked forearms extended out towards her.

Eli's safety was her top priority at that moment, as well as the safety of the rest of the crew and the ship. But her thoughts also fell upon the safety of her unborn children. They were as helpless as Eli was, but she could do nothing to protect them except to run for her life. Her fear for the safety of her unborn children weighed heavily upon Terra's mind. Both her instincts as a mother and as a GBO were at conflict with one another. Her motherly instincts told her to flee, to save herself and her children; her instincts as a GBO told her to protect her crewmate, to stop and stand up against the threat currently chasing them.

And then in less than a fraction of a second, Terra's fear vanished and her decision was made. In that same short span of time, she firmly planted her right foot and pushed up off the floor. Her forward momentum was still carrying her forward as she pivoted her hips to the left, causing her body to turn in the air.

As she turned, she brought her left knee up to her chest, causing her to spin faster as she turned to fast the monstrosity. Just as the AI came into her line of sight, Terra swung her right foot out with all her might. The top of her foot met the hard side of the Tojeq AI's head with full force, knocking it to the side and into the wall. Upon her foot impacting the AI's head, some of the reddish-brown mucus-like substance splattered out in all directions.

Terra landed, and took up a defensive pose with her hands in front of her, her knees bent and her legs evenly parted.

Eli looked back when he heard the sound of the AI's exoskeletal plates crash and scrape against the wall. He came to a dead stop as he watched Terra confront the monster.

Terra barked over her shoulder at Eli, "What are you doing? Run to safety! Now!"

The organic AI put one forearm on the wall as it shook its head. Pushing away from the wall, it then turned its unblinking gaze upon Terra. Its mandibles parted again and it let out another shrill and guttural roar as it quickly advanced towards Terra.

It shot one spiked forearm towards her, but she easily blocked that with her left hand. She threw an upward kick, which contacted the organic AI below its mandibles. But the AI only seemed to grow angry about Terra's persistent resistance.

Behind him, Eli heard the sound of footsteps. Turning his head quickly, he saw that it was Greer and Varro.

"Holy-" Greer exclaimed upon seeing the Tojeq AI as he aimed his G36K down the corridor at the black and reddish-brown monstrosity.

"What is that?" Varro asked as he aimed the pistol in his hand at the AI as well.

"I don't know," Eli exclaimed, "but Terra's taking that thing one-on-one!"

The AI began throwing multiple strikes with its spiked forearms, which Terra blocked. However, it seemed that with every successful block she made, it became increasingly difficult to block the next attack.

The AI swung with its left forearm, and Terra ducked. She came up with a right uppercut to the underside of its mandibled jaws. She did not stop there. She quickly followed her uppercut with a powerful side swing with her left fist. Her fist struck the AI on the side of the head, stunning the monster for a few brief moments. Again, Terra swung her fist repeatedly for a few more short seconds, each throw a successful hit. She took advantage of the stunned beast and she tackled the monster. But the monster stayed on its feet as it took a few steps back.

Terra glanced back with he left eye towards Eli and saw that Greer and Varro had arrived. "What are you still doing here?!" she exclaimed. "Run and get to safety now!"

Suddenly, the Tojeq AI snapped the forward half of its forearms out and sank the spines adorning the inner sides of its forearms into Terra's back.

Terra gasped at the feeling of the spines sliding a few inches into her flesh. It felt like numerous small metallic daggers that had been heated red hot by flames and thrust into her back.

With its spines firmly sunk into Terra's back, the monster raised its head back and bellowed sharply. Then, it thrust its head downwards and bit down with its mandibled jaws on the right side of Terra's neck. With its jaws clamped down, the AI began rocking its large heavy head side to side, causing its mandibles to sink deeper into her flesh. Terra's eyes widened and her lip curled upwards in a silent snarl of pain to expose her upper teeth and gums.

"No!" Eli shouted as he made to charge towards the AI, but was stopped by Varro as he grabbed Eli's right hand and pulled him back.

Terra was in utter shock, not just from the pain of the monsters bite but also from what she was experiencing. She could feel the AI's mind, she could sense what it was thinking. But there was not much to feel…for the organic AI's mind was nothing but black and hollow. It's only thoughts were to take over General Riverstone's body and to wreak havoc upon the crew of the Destiny, to destroy the pitiful life forms on board the ship and take over the Destiny.

The AI wrenched its jaws away from Terra's neck, ripping through her scales and tearing off a small chunk of her flesh. Terra's cat-like pupils narrowed to slits so small, they seemed to disappear in the deep blue of her irises. Then her eyes rolled up and her body went limp, her arms dropping at her sides and her head leaning to one side.

Blood dripped from the monsters mandibles as it swallowed the chunk of Terra's flesh. It snapped the forward half of its forearms out, releasing its death grip on Terra. The limp Petrus'iri fell to slightly slanted floor on her belly, and blood began to flow steadily from the tears and small hole in her neck and run down the minute slope of the floor.

The organic AI set its gaze upon the stunned humans before it and stepped over the limp form beneath its feet. Then, it charged towards Greer, Varro and Eli.

"Come on you bastard!" Greer bellowed as he pressed the trigger on his G36K, unleashing a spray of bullets.

The first two projectiles fired from Greer's weapon to strike the AI hit it square in the head above its eyes, causing the reddish-brown mucus-like substance to splatter out upon impact. The beast let out a shrill cry of pain as its head was thrown back slightly by the force of the bullets as they entered its head, and it took a step back.

Varro followed Greer's example and repeatedly fired the pistol as fast as he could press the trigger.

However, after the initial first two hits, the bullets seemed to phase right through the creature. Greer could see the areas where the bullets would have hit the creature opening around the flying projectiles, passing through its body and exiting out the other side, leaving the AI completely unharmed.

Suddenly, the monster propelled itself towards Greer and Varro, sending a cascade of the mucus-like substance covering its body falling to the floor.

Greer ceased firing and charged towards the Tojeq AI.

"Greer, no!" Eli shouted. Varro held him back with one arm as he too ceased firing, but kept his weapon trained on the AI.

As the gap between him and the AI swiftly narrowed, Greer pulled his combat knife from its sheath.

And then, the monster was upon him. It swung at him with its left mantis-like arm, intending to catch him on the spines lining its forearm.

But Greer had dropped down to the floor and slid on his knees. However, one of the spines grazed his left cheek as he turned his head towards to right to avoid the attack. That did not faze him, however, and as he slid across the floor underneath the monster, Greer thrust his combat knife upwards into the organic AI's belly as it passed over him.

The creatures momentum carried it forward and over Greer's combat knife, all the way to the base of its tail. The whole while the blade slid through its belly, the AI uttered a long drawn out cry of pain.

As the creatures tail flailed passed his head, Greer jumped to his feet and whirled around to confront the AI. But all he saw were Varro and Eli, staring back at him with shock. The Tojeq AI had completely vanished. The only evidence of it having been there was the smell of sulfur and the viscous substance that coated its body splattered all over the floor.

"Where'd it go?" Greer barked at Varro and Eli.

"It's like…" Eli began but couldn't finish his sentence.

Varro continued where Eli had left off, "It was like its entire body was pulled back into a single small point. Like its body just broke apart into small pieces and…sucked up by a black hole."

"What?" Greer asked as he warily shot a glance behind him. "How?"

"I have no idea," Varro answered.

"Forget about it," Eli said as he quickly ran forward and passed Greer, "we have to get Terra to the infirmary!"

Eli dropped to his knees as he reached Terra's side. He placed a hand on the Petrus'iri's back and peered down at her. Her right eye was shut tightly, but Eli could see that her eye was moving beneath her eyelid.

"Terra," Eli said as he gently shook her, "can you hear me? Terra!"

ͼͽ

She could hear voices from somewhere above her, but they were very distant. She felt coldness all around her and her arms and legs were numb. It felt as if every nerve in her body were aflame. She couldn't move. What had the organic AI done to her?

Terra slowly opened her right eye, but her vision was very blurry. Although she could see three figures moving above her, Terra could not distinguish any features but she knew that Eli was among the three blurred figures.

"Eli," she uttered weakly as darkness began to engulf her vision. "My…my children…"

Then the world around Terra vanished and she fell into a dark, peaceful slumber.

Å

End Chapter 8


	9. Mind Machine - Part 1

**Hey readers! Sorry it took me so long to finally get this new chapter out to you guys. I've just been struggling with classes lately and coming to the realization that I just may not be graduating in 2014. But anyways, this chapter is something different, because it focuses mainly on Terra, rather than the whole crew. This chapter was a bit difficult for me to write, because I have a big plan for it in Part 2. Now, careful observes will probably notice that the end to this chapter seems incomplete. You're right. It kind of is incomplete, because originally it was longer, about 16 or 18 pages. I realized that I had WAY too much information for a single chapter, so much information that you readers would probably get a bit bored and distracted with other things. So, I cut it in half to keep it short and sweet, and keep your interest and attention to the very end. Now, right now I know there will be a Part 2, but I'm thinking that I may just have to go for a Part 3 with this chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter, cause I really had a lot of fun coming up with it and fleshing out the plot for this chapter. And remember, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW TO KEEP THIS STORY ALIVE! I NEED to know what you guys are thinking about this story/chapter. I NEED TO KNOW! Also, on a side note, I've finally found the perfect idea where I can bring in the Turian species from the game Mass Effect into my writings, albeit under a different species name. You'll just have to wait until part two to read about them.**

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><p>1022/12

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><p>Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum<p>

By: Filip Lesiczka

This story was written by and is copyrighted to Filip Lesiczka. Please do not reproduce or distribute without permission.

This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Mind Machine - Part 1

The kino footage began playing, showing a solitary figure sitting on a bench in the observation deck. The figure was silhouetted against the dazzling and dancing colors of FTL. As the kino began to approach the figure from behind, it became apparent that it was Terra. On the bench beside her right sat a steaming mug, the steam rising up from the mug and glowed visibly with the abundant colors of FTL. Terra reached down and picked the mug up by the ear, took a sip of the hot contents and set it back down on the bench.

Then the kino began to slowly make its way around the bench, now approaching Terra from her right side. A tablet sat in Terra's lap but she paid no attention to it. Her gaze was transfixed on the dancing colorful lights before her. In the verdant and blue light of FTL, much of Terra's features were visible. The lights reflected off of her scales, and her elegant white long sleeved shirt seemed to soak in the color of the lights. But one feature about her stood out more than most. There was a small, golf ball sized depression on the right side of her neck that was half obscured by shadow.

As the kino continued to approach Terra from the side, her head snapped towards the kino and she let out a surprised gasp. Her right hand shot up to her right breast as she closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

A young male's laughter suddenly came from somewhere behind the kino, out of range of the footage. "Why are you always so jumpy?" the male voice asked.

Terra opened her eyes and looked up at whoever it was behind the kino, "You know I do not like it when you do that, Do'xran. Bipp'da jeegai tuyv."

"Aw, come on Jex'va," the young male voice said innocently. "You can't blame me for having a little fun scaring you every now and then." Terra's eyes and head moved towards the left as another Petrus'iri entered the footage from behind her. The Petrus'iri stepped over the bench and sat down beside Terra on her left side. "Besides, you love me that way," he said.

Do'xran was much shorter than Terra, thus indicating that he was still a young child. He looked strikingly similar to her. The only difference was the end of his nose, which narrowed as it neared his nostrils. Unlike Terra, whose nostrils were spaced widely apart, the young Petrus'iri's nostrils were spaced much closer together. Also unlike Terra, his lizard-like eyes were completely green.

Terra sighed as she turned her head to look down at Do'xran, the kino slowly moving to face the two Petrus'iri head on. Terra placed her left arm over Do'xran's shoulders, "Unfortunately for me, you are correct about that." She smiled, "You are my precious son, my leuwv'en. You are just like your grandfather. He was always the prankster in the family. Without you and your sisters, the last twenty-five years of my life would have been dull on this empty ship." Do'xran smiled up at Terra at that, and the two of them together looked passed the kino, out into the dancing flurry of colorful lights. "But with hope," she continued, "this ship will no longer be empty in the near future."

And then the kino footage stopped.

ͼͽ

Terra sighed as she turned the tablet off and lowered it down to her side. She was in the stasis room, standing behind the console that controlled the stasis pods. The tablet in her left hand hung down by her waist. She stepped from behind the console and walked up to the first of the stasis pods on her left. She peered up at the pale blue frozen face behind the frosted glass.

The dull blue light dyed the smooth skin of the human face within to a deep sea blue color. The figures long black hair was pulled back and wrapped in a knot behind its head. Wray's eyes were half open, looking out through the frosted glass in a permanently frozen, half glazed stare.

Glancing to her right, Terra gazed at the long row of stasis pods, all of which were occupied by all of her crewmates. Her eyes went from pod to pod as she stood there in silence for a few minutes. Then she spoke to no one in particular, "I know I have said this hundreds of times before…but I promise you that I will find the cure, I swear it." She glanced over her shoulder at the first stasis pod in the opposite row and saw Weir's face peering back at her through the frosted glass.

Looking back up at Wray, she placed her hand on the cold surface of the stasis pods glass. A few more minutes of silence passed before she turned and exited the stasis room. The door closed behind her, and the room was left empty once more. The only life in the room was of the frozen occupants in the stasis pods, but even then the room still seemed completely devoid of life.

ͼͽ

Terra's loose pant legs rubbed against one another as she entered the control interface room. Her gaze was fixed on the test results displayed on the tablet. She groaned in frustration upon seeing that the results had come back negative. She was still no where close to discovering the cure for the epidemic that had ravaged the crew of the Destiny twenty-five years ago.

"Still no good news on a cure?" said a deep gravelly masculine voice.

Glancing up to her right, Terra's eyes fell upon the Viterosaur android Tarvock, who stood behind one of the consoles surrounding the central structure of the control room. She shook her head, "No." She walked over to the android and handed him the tablet. "I am at a loss of what to do," she said as she sat down at the console to Tarvock's left on a stool.

"How so?" Tarvock asked as he looked over the results on the tablet.

"I've exhausted every possible combination of medicinal ingredients available in the infirmary. I've run every test countless times to be certain of the variables." She shook her head, "All forms of radiation have proven useless as well. The microbe is either completely unaffected or it continues to adapt."

Tarvock was silent as he looked over the results once more before he handed the tablet back to Terra, which she placed atop her console. "Such a resilient little bug." He placed his hands on either side of his console and leaned forward, hanging his head as he exhaled loudly. "It's almost ironic…I'm over two thousand years old with just as many years of medical, military, political, economic, biological and astrological knowledge…and I couldn't do anything to save Rush, Col. Young, Eli, Chloe and Lt. Johansen from one little microbe. The damn thing even affected Weir and the Replicators for Ancients' sake!" He cursed silently, "Despite all of the knowledge I have to offer, I don't think I'll be of any use in saving the crew."

Terra reached up and placed her right hand on the androids left shoulder, "Don't say that Tarvock. Your knowledge has been of great use, and you've helped me immensely. Without your knowledge, we would not have discovered the many cures for supposed incurable diseases of both your species and the humans."

Tarvock shook his head, "So many advances in medicine we've made…" His left eye slightly turned upwards to look at Terra, "And yet the simplest of microbes is able to thwart any of our attempts to eradicate it."

Terra sighed. "I must admit, it is frustrating," Terra said, glancing towards the opposite corridor leading into the control room as two young Petrus'iri came running in, bursting with laughter as they chased one another. A shirtless Viterosaur sauntered into the room nonchalantly behind the two Petrus'iri.

"Hey," said the completely white Viterosaur in a young male voice. He wore black jeans that were shredded at the knees and leg openings, and a leather strap wrapped around his furred chest. On his back, peeking over his right shoulder was the hilt of a sword. His golden eyes moved from the two young Petrus'iri to Terra and Tarvock, "You two see my dad anywhere?" The two Petrus'iri began to chase one another around the central structure.

"Last I saw him was in the mess hall this morning with your mother," Tarvock replied.

"Thomas passed me by on his run after I left the infirmary not too long ago," said Terra.

"Which way was he heading?" the white Viterosaur asked as he stopped before Terra and Tarvock on the other side of the consoles. He placed a hand on one of the consoles.

"I believe he went in the direction of the agricultural dome."

The white Viterosaur nodded with a brief smile, "Cool. Thanks Ter." With that, he left the control interface room.

Terra watched the young Viterosaur until she lost sight of him as he rounded a corner. She turned back towards Tarvock with a worried look, "Have you noticed a change in Christian's behavior?"

Tarvock nodded hesitantly, "He has been a bit quiet in the passed few weeks. But I wouldn't worry about it too much. Every young adult Viterosaur goes through this phase at some point."

"But he seems to have become…restless."

"Oh, that." Tarvock chuckled, "Well, he is the only twenty-five year old onboard this ship, aside from your children. He's reached the point of age when most males would have already found the love of their lives and mated at least once."

"I see. He has reached sexual maturity, in other words."

Tarvock nodded, "Yes. He's restless because his instincts tell him to search for a mate, but he knows he won't find one on this ship…" The android averted his yellow gaze and frowned as he watched the laughing youngsters, who still chased one another around the central structure, "Or anywhere else in this universe for that matter."

Terra sensed the sorrow in his words, "Do not lose hope my friend." Tarvock glanced back at her and she smiled, "Yes, it has been twenty-five years since you arrived in this universe, but I believe we will find a way to send you home."

"What's the point anymore?" Tarvock responded, looking away again. "It's been twenty-five years since we disappeared from our universe. By now, everyone we know will have come to accept that they'll never see us again. They'll all have moved on by now. Going back now would only disrupt their lives." He shrugged, "Sure, they'll be more than happy to see us again, but nothing would be the same for them if we returned now."

The android glanced back at Terra again and smiled, "Besides, I can say with confidence that we've come to calling this universe as our home. We too have also moved on with our lives as well. Leaving this all behind will only leave an emptiness within us." One of the Petrus'iri children came bouncing around the consoles and towards Tarvock with arms outstretched. The android turned as the child neared him and scooped the youngster into his arms. "We've become a family," he said as the youngster wrapped its arms around his neck, "and I don't think I can bring myself to abandon another family."

The other Petrus'iri child jumped up into Terra's lap, whom she embraced closely as soon as the child settled down. The child in Tarvock's arms released its embrace and looked up at the android. "Uncle Tarvock, can you tell us a story of your space battles?" the child asked in a little girl's squeaky voice.

The child in Terra's lap bounced with excitement, "Yeah! Can you tell us about how you destroyed all those evil space robots again?"

Both children were female, but the child in Terra's lap had a lower and slightly scratchy voice unlike her sister. However, both children were nearly identical to Do'xran, with the exception that the child in Tarvock's arms had the stunning blue eyes of her mother.

"Mirr'en'ri, Fay'on'ri," Terra said in her motherly voice and both children looked at her at the mention of their names, "Uncle Tarvock has already told you of that tale many times before."

"It's quite alright," Tarvock stated as he smiled at the children. "I was in need of a break anyway. Besides, sharing my old memories always puts my mind at ease. Maintaining the ship for six days straight without rest can be…well, tiring."

Terra nodded her head, "Very well. But be sure to bring them back two hours before the night starts. I have yet to give them their language lecture for the day."

"Will do," Tarvock replied as he stepped away from the console. "Come on Fay, let's go find your brother." With that, the child in Terra's lap hopped down to the floor. As the android passed Terra by, he shifted Mirr'en'ri from his right arm to his left and extended his right hand to Fay'on'ri. The young Petrus'iri quickly bounced after Tarvock and reached up a small hand to place it in the androids palm. Tarvock gently closed his fingers around her small hand, and the three of them left the control room.

"Now, where would your brother be?" Terra heard the android ask.

"We were with Granny Shandy when Fay started chasing me for no reason," Mirr'en'ri's squeaky voice echoed from down the corridor. "I think he's still with her."

"Hey, you're the one that pushed me Mirr," Fay'on'ri retorted.

"No I didn't!" Mirr'en'ri squeaked in response.

Then they rounded a corner, and the conversation grew distant.

Terra was left alone in the control interface. She thought about returning to the infirmary to continue with her testing on the microbe, but she decided against it as her frustration with its resilience had peaked once again. She picked up the tablet on her console and placed it on the one Tarvock had just been using.

"I might aid him in his work somewhat," she said to herself as she pressed one of the larger buttons on the console to bring up charts on the screen. She sat forward on the stool and began scanning and running maintenance checks on the many hundreds of thousands of the ships systems.

ͼͽ

Terra gently pulled the covers over the three sleeping children. Do'xran stirred slightly, but did not wake. She straightened up and looked upon her children with a warm smile. "I shall return in the morning, my ouw'daj," she whispered.

As she turned towards the door, her reflection in the mirror on the wall near the door caught her eye. She'd seen herself countless times before in the last twenty-five years. But one feature had always stumped her; the small scarred depression on the side of her neck. She had no memory of how she had come to acquire the scar. For twenty-five years it remained an enigma for her ever since she had woken up on the floor of the corridor outside her quarters in a pool of her own blood.

She reached up and massaged the scar while looking at herself in the mirror. She dreaded what was to come, what always happened when she tried to remember.

Suddenly, the grotesque face flashed before her eyes. It was truly a hideous sight; a large black triangular head with great facetted dark and unblinking eyes, mandibled jaws, streams of saliva dripping from those mandibles, insect-like arms with spines that lined the inner side of its forearms and a foul reddish-brown viscous substance that covered the entirety of the creature.

She'd seen the horrid sight countless times ever since she awoke with the wound on her neck. And every time she saw the image of the creature flash before her eyes, she was hit with a sense of fear; fear for her children and for her crewmates. But she'd never seen such a creature before in her life, only in the strange flashes and nightmares had she seen the grotesque creature.

Terra shut her eyes, trying to make the sight go away. However, like every time she'd seen it, the flashes kept repeating. Sometimes the monster would stare menacingly at her, other times it would tilt its head back until she was looking down the black abyss of its gaping maw as it would let loose a shrill and guttural roar.

She shook her head as she hung it forward, but the image flashed again and again. The creature roared at her. It felt as if the horror was with her in the room, its menacing and bloodthirsty eyes staring into the back of her skull, and its roar vibrating her eardrums.

Then suddenly, everything went quiet.

She opened one eye as she lifted her head up. She saw only her reflection.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. But no sooner had she drawn another breath did she see it in the mirror.

The monstrosity stood on the opposite side of the bed, looming over her children as it stared down hungrily at them. Its mandibles were constantly moving in a chewing like fashion, while saliva streamed down from the mandibles and onto the bed covers. The smell of sulfur filled her nostrils.

It looked up at her quickly and bellowed.

Terra gasped and her head shot up as there was a soft knock on the door. She still stood in front of the mirror, her right hand on her neck where the scar was.

She stood there for several seconds, staring at her own reflection as she slowly returned to her senses.

There was a second soft knock on the door, and she blinked as her head turned towards the door. She quickly glanced behind her, but there was no sign of the monstrosity. Her children rested peacefully, snuggled up to one another.

Another knock, and she finally broke free from her fear induced paralysis. She moved over to the door controls and opened the door.

An aged Vitero-Eli smiled back at her. "Hey," he said with a wave of his hand, "hope I didn't wake you."

Vitero-Eli had aged significantly. A few grey strands of fur were scattered throughout the dark brown of his fur. Most of the grey strands were concentrated on the top of his snout and head, but more so near the very tip of his nose. In addition to the grey fur, his longer brown hair on the back of his head and neck had also developed a few grey strands of hair. He wore glasses as well; the bridge of his glasses spanned the width of his snout, while the arms of his glasses reached up and hooked the crooks of his ears. He had gotten rid of his ancient military uniform and replaced it with more relaxed and casual clothing; worn khaki's, a white t-shirt and a long-sleeved brown and white checkered buttoned shirt over the t-shirt. He had left all the buttons on his long-sleeve shirt unbuttoned and rolled the sleeves up to half way between his wrists and his elbows.

Terra shook her head. "N-no, not at all," she said, stuttering her words in a shaky voice. "I-I was just about to come see you."

The fear in her voice caught his attention, for his left ear remained standing up while his right ear swiveled downward at an angle to emphasize his puzzlement with her fear. "Something wrong?" he asked as he shot a glance over her shoulder into her quarters.

"N-no," she replied as she stepped out in the junction and closed the door behind her. "I-it's nothing."

The aged Vitero-Eli frowned, "Come on Terra. I'm not human. I can tell when something's wrong." He paused for a moment as he seemed to realize something, causing him to twitch his tail, "The visions again?"

She averted eyes away from him to look down the corridor to her left and let out a trembling sigh, "They have become progressively worse now. It is not only when I attempt to recall what occurred before I woke…now they occur if I just think back to that day." She stepped to the left headed down the corridor with Vitero-Eli walking beside her.

"What about the nightmares?" he asked, giving her a concerned look. "When was your last seizure?"

"Close to a year ago now," Terra replied with a frown. Her tail flicked, "Two days from now, it will be a year since my last seizure…and since the last nightmare."

Vitero-Eli shook his head as he looked down the corridor ahead of him, "It's still too much of a coincidence. Why would this particular nightmare alone happen when you're having your seizure once every year?"

They turned left at an intersection of corridors.

"I do not know myself," she answered. "But just like the nightmares, my visions are becoming much more realistic."

"How so?"

"I'm beginning to feel things…" Terra shook her head as she desperately tried to avoid thinking about that day, "I'm beginning to feel its thoughts, I can smell it and…I can feel its mind."

"Wait," Vitero-Eli said holding up a hand to stop her, "are you being serious?" She nodded. "So, you're saying that you're feeling a legitimate mind behind the visions? You're saying it's…real?"

"I'm not sure if it's real," she responded as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, "but I have no doubt that there is some kind of intelligence behind whatever it is."

Vitero-Eli reached a hand up and removed his glasses. He sighed, "You know, I gotta be honest about this…it's frustrating, you know? Frustrating hearing about all these horrifying visions and nightmares you have and being unable to do something to help you." He looked at her with tired eyes, "I wish there was something I could to make your visions and nightmares go away, and help you remember what happened all those years ago." He glanced down at the floor, and Terra could see the pain in his eyes, "I just feel so useless, you know?"

She reached her hand up and lifted his chin up until he was looking at her once more. "Eli, you are not useless. You have never been useless. You have been a great friend to me and a dedicated godfather to my children all these years. You have always been here for me while I struggle with my nightmares, visions and seizures." She smiled at him, pulling her hand back, "You have done a great deal more for me than I could have asked for Eli." She turned, as did Vitero-Eli, and they resumed walking again, "Now, let us not dwell on this any further. There must have been some matter of importance that you came down to see me."

"Ah yes, thanks for reminding me," Vitero-Eli said. "Think I may have finally fixed the problem with the communication stones."

Terra's eyes widened, "You have?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Come on, I'll show you when get there."

ͼͽ

"You mean to tell me…that we basically wasted twenty-two years of our lives?" an aged Addamo asked. The old Viterosaur set his sky blue gaze upon Vitero-Eli, "We've been out of contact with Earth for twenty-two years, all because the stones had to be _recalibrated_?!" His deep voice no longer sounded as rough as it once did while he smoked.

Much like Vitero-Eli, Addamo had also aged significantly, albeit much more noticeably. Rather than a sprinkling of grey strands of fur among the black fur on the top of his snout, head and back, there was an abundance of white fur. The end of his snout had turned completely white, and there were many more white fur strands on his head and back. His long black silky hair had also begun to turn white. A single inch wide line of white hair began from the behind his right ear and running down his neck, stopping where his long hair hung just below his shoulders. However, unlike Vitero-Eli, Addamo had not discarded his military uniform.

"I know," Vitero-Eli said as he held up his hands, "it sounds like a stupid mistake to not check the calibrations. But believe me Tom…it's a lot harder to calibrate the stones than it sounds." He glanced over to an aged Riverstone, who had also accumulated a fair amount of white fur and hair on her snout, head and back, "I wasn't exactly an expert on the stones when you got me to working on trying to fix them…but if I'd known they cold be calibrated, checking to see if the calibrations were off would have been the first thing on my list."

"And when did you figure this out?" Tarvock asked from where he sat behind the laptop monitoring the communication stones. Terra was leaning with her hands on the table, looking down at the readings on the laptop.

Vitero-Eli was silent for a moment before answering, "Two months ago."

"And you're telling us this now?" Riverstone asked, who was clearly upset.

"I'm telling you now because I'm pretty damn sure that my two months of difficult calibrations have paid off!" Vitero-Eli exclaimed, causing Riverstone to give him a scolding look as she crossed her arms over her flat chest. He sighed, "Sorry. I'm just mad at myself for not seeing this sooner. But yesterday, those two months of calibrations and tweaking have finally paid off."

"Then you can say for certain that we may once again visit Earth?" Terra asked as she looked up from the laptop.

Vitero-Eli turned his head to look at her over his shoulder, "Positive. I checked and rechecked ten times this morning to be sure. The calibration readings and variables match the readings and variables from twenty-two years ago."

A loud sigh escaped from Addamo as he placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, hanging his head. He looked up at Vitero-Eli, "It's been twenty-two years too long…but I can't be angry with you for not fixing them any sooner." His gaze moved down to the table, "I'm too old to be angry." He straightened up and stepped closer to Vitero-Eli, patting him on the shoulder, "You did good, Eli. You never gave up on it, and we're all proud of you."

Vitero-Eli glanced around the room to see that everyone was nodding and smiling. "Thanks," he said with a nod.

"Now," Addamo said as he clapped his hands together, "who wants to bet that Carter's running the show at SGC?"

Vitero-Eli chuckled, "You kidding? She'll more than likely have retired by now. But I bet Teal'c hasn't changed one bit."

Riverstone nodded, "Mhmm, no doubt Teal'c still looks as young as ever, something I've always envied him for."

"Think he's found a good lookin' human girl for himself by now?" Addamo asked sarcastically.

"Who knows," Tarvock said as he entered a few commands into the laptop. "For all we know Dr. Jackson and Vala could have finally started a family and run off to build their home on another planet in a picturesque location, maybe near the ocean."

"That sounds about right," Riverstone said with a smile.

"You do not think Col. Mitchell has moved on with his life as well, do you?" Terra asked.

Riverstone and Addamo both shrugged simultaneously.

"Dunno," Riverstone replied, "though, Cameron's definitely a general by now."

A moment of silence fell among them. The only sound was of Tarvocks claws tapping on the keys as he rapidly typed away. Then, he leaned back with a sigh, "There…Eli's recalibrated the stones, and I've restored the pedestal to working order again, with a bit of an upgrade." He looked up, his eyes moving from Addamo, to Riverstone, to Vitero-Eli and finally to Terra. "So, who are the two lucky winners that will go first?"

ͼͽ

Terra blinked twice, realizing that she was looking at a digital holographic tablet in one hand. In the other, she held a steaming coffee mug by the handle. Glancing up to the mirror on the table before her, she saw a face she barely recognized as a result of age.

Daniel stared back at her in the mirror, albeit an old Daniel whose face was riddled with wrinkles and whose hair had grown long and grey. His graying hair was evenly trimmed to just below his ears. Three high wrinkles spanned the width of his forehead and his cheeks sagged slightly. He wore his old glasses, just as he had all those years before. Rather than the blue military uniform she had seen him wear much of the time, he was wearing a white wool sweater with a red and white diamond patterning on the front. The collar flaps of a red shirt came out of the neck hole of the sweater and both flaps were folded down neatly.

"Well, this is awkward," said a female voice next to her. She glanced to her right and saw Sam. Just like Daniel, her face also betrayed her significant age. Deep wrinkles marked the corners of her eyes and prominent lines extended from either side of her nostrils to below the corners of her mouth. Like Daniel, her hair had also grown but had retained its golden color, falling elegantly passed her shoulders. She wore a thin turtleneck shirt which was tucked neatly into the belt of her casual khaki pants, and a festive red and green sweater.

"Thomas?" Terra asked, a bit puzzled as to why he had switched bodies with Sam.

Addamo was silent for a few seconds as he glanced down at the aged feminine hands with nails painted red. Then he looked at Terra, "Yeah…" Something to his right caught his attention, and his lips parted slightly. Terra glanced to her left to see what he was looking at…and gasped when she saw the sight outside the window. "Okay," Addamo said, "I can definitely say we're not in the SGC…or even on Earth for that matter."

Before them, a blue gas giant planet with a gorgeous system of thick violet rings loomed in the distance. Like the varying hues of blue bands of gas clouds on the planet, the ring system was tilted at a harsh angle towards its star. Off towards the left, a ringed moon orbited, or rather, a planet-moon orbited just above the edge of the ring system. Like the gas giant it orbited, the planet-moon also possessed its own set of light blue rings which orbited it at a slight acute angle facing the star. On the dark side of the planet, networks of lights from cities were clearly visible. High above the planets surface, thousands of different sized Daedalus-class ships and other unfamiliar large ships shaped like fighters drifted through space. Many of the ships were clustered around massive frigates and huge city like stations. Further off towards the right, dozens of moons could be seen.

"Where the hell are we?" Addamo asked loudly after a few minutes of staring in awe at the orbiting planet.

Å

End Chapter 9


	10. Mind Machine - Part 2

**What's up readers? Time for the second part of Mind Machine! I just finished writing and editing this chapter today! This was a fun chapter to write, because the mystery of Terra's nightmares and visions is soon coming to a conclusion! In this chapter we learn why Terra and Addamo find themselves looking upon an alien blue-moon orbiting an even more alien gas giant rather than being on Earth in the SGC. Remember, twenty-five years have passed since the crew and Replicators were put into stasis after they all became infected by a microbe. Also, we learn about a new and powerful ally that the human race has gained, and this race is based ENTIRELY around the Turian species from the Mass Effect universe. So, yes this is technically a crossover. But the Turians, going under the name of Pruisilans, will only be appearing in this chapter series. At least, for now. Who knows, maybe they'll make another appearance later in the story. But for now, only in this chapter series. So I'd rather not call this a crossover as it's only for a chapter or two. But anyways, we also finally bear witness to the nightmare that has plagued Terra for the last twenty-five years of her life. What is the true cause behind this nightmare? What will happen in this exciting chapter as we see more and more of the changes that have happened in the universe in the last twenty-five years? Find out in this detail packed chapter!**

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><p>110/13

Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum

By: Filip Lesiczka

This story was written by and is copyrighted to Filip Lesiczka. Please do not reproduce or distribute without permission.

This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Mind Machine - Part 2

Terra and Addamo stared out the window they sat in front of with total awe. They had expected to see the concrete walls within the SGC, the walls they had been familiar with for three years. But instead, they saw an alien world orbited by fleets of Daedalus-class and other alien ships surrounding massive frigates and city-like stations.

"Where the hell are we?" Addamo asked again to no one in particular.

A voice answered him from behind them, "You already forgetting things, Carter? You're not even old enough to be going senile."

Terra and Addamo twisted around in their seats upon instantly recognizing the voice.

"Col. Sheppard?" Terra asked as she laid her eyes upon an aged Sheppard, who had just walked into the room.

His hair was just as short as it ever was, but had turned grey, much like Daniel's hair. Also like Daniel, his forehead had three deep lines spanning the width of his forehead. Wrinkles also marked the corners of his eyes and corners of his mouth. Unlike his right eye, his left had turned a slight milky blue color and what appeared to be an old gash starting from the bottom eyelid, down his cheek and ending just below the back of his jaw beneath his earlobe. His cheeks had become puffier in his old age. His belly had also grown. However, he no longer wore the same uniform he had worn during his time on the Atlantis expedition. He wore a formal navy colored uniform with two vertical gold buttons on his collar, and two more gold buttons just above his belt. There were no patches on the shoulders of his sleeves, but there was a pin on the collar of his uniform.

Sheppard looked from Addamo to Terra, confusion written all over his face, "Uh, that's Fleet Admiral Sheppard, Jackson." He pointed to the pin on his uniform. "You two alright?"

"Yeah, everything's alright," Addamo replied, lifting up a hand to look at it again then to glance down and point at the mirror in front of him, "except for the fact that I'm in _Carter's body_!"

The aged Sheppard reached up and scratched his right temple with his index finger, utterly confused, "I think you guys have spent too much time up here. Maybe you'll both feel better if you go back down to the moon."

"John…" said Terra, "it's us."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I can see it's you. I'm not blind…well, not entirely blind. And why are you talking with a British accent all of a sudden Jackson?"

"For cryin' out loud Shep," Addamo growled, "Carter and Jackson are on Destiny! They're not here! It's us, Terra and Tom. We switched bodies with them." He paused to look at the scar on Sheppard's left cheek and his clouded left eye, "And what the hell happened to your face?"

Sheppard blinked after hearing the name 'Destiny.' His eyes flicked from Addamo to Terra, and back again for a few moments, studying their faces. "Destiny…Terra…Tom…hmmm" he said, struggling to remember the names. Then his eyebrows rose in surprise, as did his brow lines, "You better not be pulling my leg Carter, like you did last time."

Addamo chuckled, "I ain't Carter, Shep. It's me, Tom." He smirked, "And you say we're already forgetting things?"

Sheppard was silent for a few moments as he stared at the two. Then he found his voice again, "What the hell took you guys so long to finally answer our calls?" He glanced at Addamo, "And why are you in Carter's body?"

Addamo shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."

Terra answered Sheppard's first question, "To say the least John, our communication stones ceased to work three years after we put the crew in stasis."

"Eli's been working on the rocks ever since," Addamo added. He rolled his eyes, "Wasn't until two months ago that he found out they needed to be 'recalibrated.'" His attention returned to the scene outside the window. "Now can someone please tell me where the hell we are? Cause last time I checked, Earth wasn't in orbit around a…a blue Saturn," he said, pointing to the blue gas giant.

"Oh, right," Sheppard said as he chewed on his lower lip and briefly glanced down at the floor, "I forgot you guys didn't get the message about what happened."

Terra and Addamo both stared at him.

"What has happened?" Terra asked, her concern mounting.

Sheppard turned and motioned with his hand for them to follow him, "Come on. I'll show you what happened."

ͼͽ

The video played on the darkened window of the observation room. Terra and Addamo both stared in horror at what unfolded before their eyes.

"First, Uranus and Neptune went eighteen years ago," Sheppard said as the video showed both of the ice giant planets being ripped apart and the debris being pulled off to the top of the screen.

"Then Saturn went three years later," Sheppard continued, and the destruction of the ringed planet played. Saturn's majestic yellow ring slowly deformed as it was pulled up towards the top right corner of the screen. Gradually, the ring elongated, and the planet soon followed after it. Clouds of molten gases from the planets interior layers glowed brightly, and the planet suddenly erupted outwards as its core destabilized after becoming exposed to the vacuum of space.

"Jupiter followed a few months after," Sheppard said, and Jupiter quickly turned into an egg-shape before it too erupted and was pulled off to the right of the screen. "The shockwave of the explosion from Jupiter blew Mars in half before throwing it out of the solar system."

Sheppard sighed as an image of Earth faded in, "A year later…"

"Earth was next," Terra said, her voice trembling slightly.

The blue planet steadily grew oblong before it began to disintegrate. As it was pulled apart, glowing yellow fractures began running from the right side of the planet to the left. Soon, the blue planet was no longer blue anymore, but a rapidly disintegrating ball of molten rock. As the pieces of the planet were pulled away, the inner core became visible for a brief moment. It shone brightly like a small star before it destabilized and ruptured, sending chunks of itself in all directions. Then, the rest of the planet followed, and the video panned to show the last remnants of Earth as it quickly raced towards what caused its destruction; a neutron star. What had become of Earth now rapidly circled the neutron star in a death spiral before it was consumed by the white hot surface of the star.

The video faded, and the observation window became transparent once more.

Terra sat down in one of the chairs next to Addamo that paralleled the observation window. She was in utter shock at what she had just seen.

"After that, Venus and Mercury went within a matter of months from each other," Sheppard stated. "Then the damn thing went and rammed into the sun. Pluto is the only thing left of the Sol system."

"How many didn't make it?" Addamo asked from beside Terra. He rested his chin on his knuckles as he stared aimlessly out the window at the gas giant.

Sheppard sighed through his nostrils as he thought about his answer. "Well, we first saw it a year before you guys went silent, so we started making preparations to evacuate the planet. It was behind Jupiter for so long that we didn't see it until it had already entered the solar system." He shook his head, "But six years wasn't exactly enough time to get everyone off the planet."

Addamo turned his eyes up towards Sheppard and repeated, "How many?"

Sheppard pursed his lips before answering, "Six billion." Addamo cursed silently as he returned his gaze out the window. "We managed to get a billion and a half off the planet by the five and a half year mark by bringing in about forty more Stargates from other worlds, also by beaming people up onto ships…but it wasn't enough time." He shook his head, "Teal'c and Vala didn't make it off, neither did Landry, Woolsey and O'Neil. They all stayed behind to make sure that just before it happened, all the gates were shut off. We think Atlantis was destroyed too, but we're not exactly sure if that's true."

"Damn it!" Addamo exclaimed angrily as he stood up quickly to pace up to the window, placing his hands on his face and rubbing his eyes.

Sheppard watched Addamo pace around the observation room, "I wish we could've saved everyone…but there wasn't much else we could have done. We had the entire Jaffa fleet beaming people up from around the world via the rings, but that still wasn't enough."

Addamo stopped in front of the window and stared out at the ringed planet-moon that the humans of Earth now called their home, which he and Terra learned was called Uzazauam, the home of a strange avian-raptor like race. He stood there in silence for quite a few minutes with his hands on his hips before he turned towards Sheppard again, "Of all the ways people predicted the world was going to end, why did a neutron star have to come into the system? Wish I'd have known about it. I could have done something."

"No one could have known, Thomas," Terra said, finally breaking her silence. "It is all a part of the natural order of the universe. Stars die of old age, while others are consumed by black holes or by collision with other stars." She glanced down at the floor, "In this case, a neutron star happened to cross paths with Earth." She gave him a worried look, "And if you could have done something, it would have likely resulted in your death."

"Hey, look at it this way," Sheppard said, "this may have unfortunately happened in our universe, but it probably didn't happen in your universe." He smiled at Addamo.

But the Viterosaur did not smile in return. Instead, he turned his head to look back over his shoulder out the window once more, and then he sighed. "I'll be honest Shep. I don't really care what happens back at home anymore." Sheppard furrowed his eyebrows, puzzled by what Addamo meant. "I don't plan on going home. I've got a family to look after, here in this universe. I've got too many memories in this universe. If I went back to my people…I'd be abandoning Terra and her kids, as well as the rest of the crew."

He closed his eyes, "And I don't want to abandon another family. What happens in my universe doesn't matter to me anymore. I care about this universe and its people because this has become my home now. And even though I'm not human, it still hurts me inside to hear that six billion people couldn't be saved."

Sheppard nodded after a while. He looked down at his feet as he seemed to ponder what to say.

"A lot has happened on Destiny in the last twenty-five years, John," Terra said, looking up at him. "Twenty-five years of memories is a difficult thing to let go, especially if they are sentimental memories."

"I understand. I'm sorry, I didn't know so much had changed for you," Sheppard said, glancing back to Addamo.

"No reason to be sorry, Shep. You couldn't have known anyway," Addamo replied, "since we've been out of contact for twenty-two years. That reminds me," he walked over to Sheppard and stopped in front of him. He pointed to the scar on Sheppard's left cheek, "What the hell happened there? I didn't know you were the type to wear scars."

Sheppard chuckled, "I'm not really. Just an old scar I got after we planted a Stargate on the planet half a year after Earth was destroyed." He passed Addamo by and went to stand in front of the window, "Kind of embarrassing really, considering everything I've been through while on Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy."

"Do tell," Terra inquired, leaning forward in the chair and listening intently.

"Ronin and I were with SG-1 and a few other teams to scout out the immediate area around the gate. This was before we knew about the natives," Sheppard began. "Everything was going smoothly. Saw some pretty weird little critters scurrying around here and there while walking through the woods. And then Ronin spooked some kind of…uh, it was like a green velociraptor or something, but it was smaller and had a few tentacles on its face, long spines on its back…big claws too, and most of its back, tail and head were covered with all these metallic plates." Sheppards shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath and sighed silently, "Well, Ronin being Ronin, he kicked the damn thing like it was a football."

"I think perhaps I see where this is going," Terra said, as she thought of one likely scenario.

Sheppard nodded, "Yep. Momma came in out of nowhere. Twice as big and as tall as Ronin was. Nearly tore him to shreds in the first five seconds. Luckily, I had a flash bang on me. So, tossed it up towards its head and went to grab Ronin after it turned away." He slowly shook his head, "If I'd know that it had giant spikes on its tail, I would've ducked faster. Last damn spike on the end of its tail got me as it turned away from us. Got me in the eye, as you can see. Damaged my cornea, but not too bad to permanently blind me." He turned towards Terra and Addamo, "Still, can't see a whole lot out of it anymore."

Sheppard drew a deep breath, "That's when a group of Pruisilan's showed up and subdued the thing."

"And what of Ronin?" asked Terra.

"He and I spent about two weeks in one of the Pruisilan intensive care facilities. Turns out that the things claws and spikes are coated with hemotoxic and neurotoxic venom. From there, the human race gained a new and powerful ally." He glanced between Terra and Addamo for a few seconds before he asked, "So, what about you guys? It's been twenty-two years since anyone's heard from you. Find a cure for the…the uh…what's it called again?"

"Microbe," Terra answered.

Sheppard pointed at her, "Yeah, that's the word I was looking for."

Terra frowned and shook her head in response, but did not say anything.

Addamo spoke for her, "We've tried everything. Every possible type of radiation, every possible combination of chemical mixtures and medical concoctions with what we have available…" He frowned as well, "Nothing works. The damn thing keeps adapting to whatever we throw at it. Nothing kills it."

"Perhaps," Terra added, "the only option we have left is to expose it to direct radiation from a pulsar. But I do not see that happening."

"I don't like the idea either," Addamo said shaking his head, "so we have to find some other way of killing it. If we don't, then the crew is staying in stasis indefinitely, maybe for the rest of eternity."

"I was hoping for better news," Sheppard replied, "but I was kind of expecting no good news anyway. What else have you guys been doing all these years?"

"Surviving," Addamo answered, "and raising our kids."

"When our food and water supply is running low, we stop at every planet with a Stargate to find a viable source of water and search for possible food, as well as look for any kind of plant with medicinal properties," Terra added. "We have also been continuing on with Destiny's original mission."

"Still no where near finding out what made that static noise," Addamo stated.

Sheppard nodded his head, "Well, at least now we know you guys are okay." He quickly glanced to the side out the window before looking at both of them again, "You guys want to go check things out on the planet? Meet the locals?"

Terra and Addamo looked at one another for a moment before Addamo shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

ͼͽ

The tour of Uzazauam's surface was quite the experience for Terra. For once, since leaving her people twenty galaxies behind her, she felt a familiarity as she walked among the crowded walkways and balconies of the stores and markets that lined them. It reminded her of her childhood days when her mother would take her to the digital market lanes in her home city. The similar crowded walkways, the similar shops, stores and restaurants…the similarity to her home, it all brought back many memories.

One exciting part about her tour of the Pruisilan city was meeting the natives of the planet.

They were a strange race indeed, their biology unlike anything Terra had ever seen in her travels through the universe.

Most of the Pruisilan's she saw were an average of six feet in height, and all of them possessed two long fingers with opposable thumbs. Their fingers were tipped with talons, while their mouths had a set of mandibles. Perhaps the most distinctive feature about them was the metallic carapace on their heads, a result of their evolution on a planet with a metal-poor inner core.

Just like Sheppard had described them, they had very avian like features, which made them resemble humanoid birds or raptors. Also from what Sheppard told them, males and females were no different in physical appearance, except that females did not possess the crest of horns like the males do. As she walked among the Pruisilan's, Terra noted that their voices had a distinctive flanging effect to them. And since they evolved on a planet-moon with a metal-poor inner core, which resulted in a weaker magnetic field and allowed more radiation through the atmosphere, the Pruisilan's, like most life on the planet had evolved metallic exoskeletons to shield them from much of the radiation.

But perhaps the most intriguing aspect about the Pruisilan's was that unlike humans, they were a dextro-amino acid based sapient race. This fact about the Pruisilan's greatly intrigued Terra, as she had only heard about an intelligent dextro-amino race in her home galaxy once before. It was rumored to be only a myth, so she never had any reason to believe it was true. But now that she walked among a race of dextro-amino based sapient beings, she had every reason to believe that the myth was no myth at all.

Their culture was only slightly similar the Petrus'iri culture, but built entirely around a militaristic structure. The economy, government, politics, and society were deeply embedded within the military, and it was all highly organized.

As the three of them toured the various balconies of the great megatropolis city they'd beamed down to, Terra noticed that many of the Pruisilan guards and military officials saluted Sheppard as they casually walked by them. Terra moved closer to Sheppard and spoke over his left shoulder, "John, why are the Pruisilan's saluting you?"

Another Pruisilan guard posted outside a business kiosk saluted Sheppard and said, "Admiral."

Sheppard quickly saluted the guard in response and then spoke back to Terra, "They're big on respect of high ranking military officials, no matter what species."

He glanced at Terra, who gave him a look, "I sense you are not telling me everything."

Sheppard shrugged, "It's a bit of a long story, so I'll just give you the short version." He and Terra stepped away from each other as they made way for a group of Pruisilan's and humans chatting with one another. They passed the group by and stepped closer to one another again. "About a year after the Pruisilan government allowed us to occupy the space above the planet, they let us set up a command center around the gate as long as they were allowed access to the gate as well. We complied, and soon we were sending SG teams through the gate, some even with Pruisilan's in them while other teams were entirely Pruisilan.

"McKay, Ronin, Teyla and I, along with a Pruisilan team and a scientist, were sent out to investigate an uncharted planet in a system just off the edge of the Outer Arm of the galaxy. A small world they found."

"A planet they found?" Addamo asked as he also stepped closer to Sheppard. "But I thought you said these people never knew of the Stargates until you planted one on this world."

"Perhaps they were given access to the database of gate addresses, Thomas," Terra said. "After all, what good would the human race be as an ally to these people if they cannot be completely trusted? I'm sure the Pruisilan's were given access, yes?"

Sheppard nodded and continued from where he left off, "The major leading their team was called Baadar Dijari, while the scientist called herself Fedaren. We were assigned by their government to find out if the planet is uninhabited by intelligent life. Rodney had the task of helping Fedaren determine if the planet was habitable for her people. Thing about this scientist was that she was the daughter of one of the Pruisilan's highest ranking military governor's. So, it was basically a scout and protect mission."

"I guess things went south, right?" Addamo asked as they came out onto a fairly large balcony. It was above the edge of a cliff that rose up about a hundred feet from the edge of a moderately sized lake. The balcony faced the opposite shoreline of the lake, where truly tall skyscrapers rose from behind the small green line of foliage that lined the banks of the lake.

They walked up to the edge of the balcony. Terra leaned with her forearms against the glass barrier and marveled at the spectacular sight of the massive city, which had the sun setting behind it. Addamo stopped on Terra's left and placed his hands on the barrier, gazing upon the sight as well.

Sheppard stood on Addamo's left and answered Addamo, "Yeah. While Ronin and I were out scouting the area with Badaar and two of his men, Rodney, Teyla, Fedaren and the others just…vanished."

"What do you mean, vanished?" Terra asked, still looking out across the placid surface of the lake. A cool breeze rolled in through the balcony.

"That's exactly what I mean," Sheppard replied. "They just disappeared. All of Rodney and Fedaren's equipment was still where we left them. But there was no sign of them, Teyla or the other Pruisilan's."

Sheppard paused as he straightened up to stretch his back and rotate his left shoulder. He groaned slightly from the stiffness in his joints, "No radio contact with them either. Like they never existed."

"You did eventually find them, right?" Addamo asked as he glanced sideways at Sheppard.

The aged Sheppard nodded, "Yeah, but it took a hell of a lot of effort to find them. Had to end up going into another dimension to get them."

Terra and Addamo turned to look at Sheppard. "Another dimension?" Terra asked, a bit skeptical.

"Believe me, I didn't exactly believe that I was in a dimension separate from our own, but Badaar couldn't contact us or even _see_ us when we walked through the rift portal…at least, he couldn't until he walked through himself."

"Alright," Addamo said, "so Rodney and Fedaren came across a dimensional rift and decided to investigate, dragging Teyla and the other Pruisilan's with them, right?"

Sheppard shook his head, "Not exactly." He paused as he took a deep breath and exhaled, "They were more or less abducted by interdimensional beings…the Craa'g…ancient enemies of the Pruisilan's, who thought the Craa'g were dead for thousands of years.

"The Pruisilan's at one point in the past were at war for a thousand years with the Craa'g. It wasn't until they launched a full-scale assault on the Craa'g home world did the war end, and the Craa'g disappeared."

"Or so they thought," Terra stated. "These beings only retreated into the dimension you venture into, yes?"

"Yep, and they sure as hell are even uglier than the Unas." Sheppard shook his head, "They're…difficult to describe…just think of a praying mantis on steroids, give it the body of a raptor covered in exoskeletal plates, a ridiculously long tail, and a whole bunch of slime coating its body. And you'll have yourself a Craa'g."

As Terra stared at the placid surface of the lake, listening to Sheppard's description of a Craa'g, an image flashed before her eyes. It was the same image she had been seeing for the last twenty-five years. From what Sheppard had described, the details matched what she saw from the image.

The gruesome creature tilted its head back and released a guttural bellow at her.

Terra gasped in fright and flinched.

Addamo turned his head towards her, and Sheppard leaned forward to peer at her from behind Addamo with a look of puzzlement.

She looked around her for a moment before looking back at Addamo.

"You okay?" Addamo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Terra returned her gaze out towards the city on the other side of the lake, "I-I don't know…John, you say these Craa'g are…covered in slime and plates?" The sound of exoskeletal plates rubbing against each other filled her ears as another horrific image flashed before her eyes.

Sheppard nodded his head, "Lots of slime. Why?"

Terra shot Addamo a look, who in turn immediately understood as he gave her a look of concern, "It's happened again, hasn't it?"

Terra only nodded her head in response, her hands beginning to tremble.

"What?" Sheppard asked, confused by what was going on, "What happened?"

"Shep," Addamo said as he turned to face the aged Sheppard, "I'd love to hear the rest of your story, I really do." She shot a quick glance back at Terra, who stared aimlessly out across the lake as she began to shiver, "But we have to get back to Destiny right now." He leaned closer to Sheppard and whispered in his ear, "She's due for another episode in about a day."

Sheppard's eye's widened slightly as he finally understood, "You still haven't figured out what's causing her to see the thing?" he whispered.

Addamo shook his head in response, "No. Tarvock's run multiple scan's on her all these years. He says there are no anomalies in her brain chemistry or neural network that should be causing her to see these visions."

"But why do you have to go back to Destiny?" Sheppard asked quietly.

"Because she's in Daniel's body," Addamo replied. "And he's in her body. They'll both more than likely share the same vision if we don't get Daniel back here and us back over there."

Sheppard nodded, "Right. Let's get you two back on Destiny as soon as possible." He tapped his radio earpiece, "Astraeus, this is Sheppard. Three to beam up, we need to get to the stones room ASAP."

ͼͽ

"Terra," Sheppard said as he stopped behind her with his hands behind his back and his feet spread evenly apart. Terra turned in the chair to face him, "I hope you guys figure out what's causing your visions soon. I wouldn't want you to live with something like this for the rest of your life."

Terra smiled, "Thank you John. I hope to bring better news about the crew next time we come to visit again."

"Hey Shep," Addamo said as he stepped beside the aged admiral, "I know you don't have to do much in your line of work at your rank," he patted Sheppard on the gut, "but try to lay off all that greasy crap you eat. Wouldn't want to come back here and learn that you suffered a heart attack thanks to all that cholesterol in your veins. Do some exercising for once."

"That's what my job is for, Col." a feminine voice said from behind them.

Sheppard and Addamo turned to see a female Pruisilan had walked in behind them. Unlike most of the female Pruisilan's they'd seen down on the planet who were garbed in elaborate garments and dresses, this female wore a very light uniform that hugged her skin very tightly. She wore no gloves on her hands, and her sleeves ended just below her elbows. Her skin exoskeletal plates were a very dark blue hue and elaborate bright green markings were painted on her face, a statement of the Pruisilan colony she was from.

"And you are?" Addamo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," she said with a rather strong flanging effect in her voice, "I forgot to introduce myself." She saluted Addamo, "I'm Vallair Guld, Admiral Sheppard's personal trainer. But you can call me Val."

Addamo stepped forward with a hand outstretched, "Nice to meet you Val." They shook hands, "Kind of hard to believe you can get an old human like Shep here to do some physical exercise."

"Hey, I was active physically way back when…and mentally," Sheppard said.

"Keyword 'was'," Addamo replied with a slight smile.

Vallair laughed, "It does take some coaxing to get him out of his office over on the Hephaestus, but he understands that he needs to do some physical exercising."

"What caused you to come to the conclusion you needed to be active once more, John?" Terra asked with a smile, although she still trembled slightly from her latest vision.

Sheppard took a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks as he expelled air from his mouth. After a moment he glanced down at the gold ring on one finger on his right hand and replied with one word, "Teyla."

Addamo chuckled, "I thought it had to be that." He paused to quickly glance back at Terra before he spoke again, "Well, it was great catching up with you Admiral." He saluted Sheppard.

Sheppard saluted Addamo back, "Likewise Col. Tell your wife I said 'hi.'"

Addamo nodded, "Will do." He shot a glance at Vallair, "Try not to push him too hard."

Vallair nodded with a chuckle, "I'll try, but I can't guarantee that I will, since the Admiral's the one asking to be pushed."

Addamo took his seat on Terra's right side, "Well, at least make sure he doesn't have a heart attack."

"John," Terra said as she turned around in her seat once more, "I promise you that I will find the cure for the crew, and we will bring them home."

Sheppard smiled in response and nodded.

With that, Terra turned around again, and nodded at Addamo. She glanced out the window at the spectacular scene of the ringed gas giant and its ringed blue moon of Uzazauam. It was a sight she would not soon forget.

Then she gently picked up her stone.

ͼͽ

The sound of plates rubbing against plates.

The sickening noise of splattering.

The hoarse guttural breathing.

The quiet, but persistent commotion of teeth grinding and chewing.

These sounds were all too familiar to her ears.

Terra opened her eyes and her fears became reality.

She was experiencing it once again…the gruesome nightmare of twenty-five years…the horrifying creature of her visions.

But something was different this time. Unlike the many nightmares before where she was chased through dark corridors of the Destiny by the beast, she stood in an unfamiliar room somewhere within the Destiny.

However, a reddish-black flesh-like substance coated the floor, walls and ceiling of the room. One wall of the room was shrouded in total darkness.

Looking about her, Terra saw no sign of the creature…but the sounds it made persisted. However, the room was not entirely empty. Near the sealed door was a console unlike any Terra had ever seen on the Destiny. She warily moved to the back of the console to get a better look at it. With shaky hands she cleared away a few of the fleshy tendrils from its surface.

There was a fairly large dial with a triangular protrusion in the center of the console, with varying symbols on the outer edge of the dial. There were also a variety of buttons on the left side of the console. One of those buttons flashed white repeatedly. On the right side of the console was a single blue button and a circle with horizontal slats in a grate that covered it. Below the grate, a screen displayed a layout of the Destiny. Within the detailed blue outline of the Destiny, a red dot in the middle of the neck of the ship. Terra instantly knew that it displayed her location within the ship; she was near the nose of the ship.

Her eyes moved back to the blinking white button on the right side of the console. She glanced around the room, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Ever so carefully, she moved her left hand over to the flashing button. Her fingers stopped just above the flashing button. She felt something watching her, something burning its menacing gaze into her.

_What will happen when I press this button?_ she asked herself, her fear gripping her. _Will this nightmare end, or will the beast attack?_ She glanced up toward the wall that was shrouded in complete darkness. Every instinct told her that danger lurked behind that dark veil. Every instinct told her to bolt towards the door and attempt to make an escape. Her hand began to shake uncontrollably above the button.

She shook her head and her hand ceased shaking, "No!" She stared into the darkness, all of her fear vanished, "I will no longer run! I will not fear you any longer! You are no part of my life! And I will find a way to be rid of you once and for all!"

As her fingers came down on the flashing white button, a guttural growl emanated from the darkness.

And then the veil of darkness disappeared as the whole of the wall lit up within a rocky outline. As she looked up, Terra let out a gasp at what she saw.

She saw herself, Greer and her three children within the same room she stood in, but they were all suspended off the floor by fleshy tendrils.

A deep guttural and demonic voice spoke from somewhere behind her, "This is your fate."

Terra could only stare at what she saw. The gruesome creature appeared from the left side of the wall, saliva streaming from its jaws. It passed Terra, then Greer, and stopped before the first of her children, Do'xran. Keeping one of its upper forearms locked against its lower forearm, the beast reached up to touch Do'xran on the underside of his jaw.

Slowly, Do'xran lifted his head until he was looking straight ahead at Terra.

"The time is almost upon you, Terra'sha'ri," said the guttural demonic voice. "Just as in their reality, you and you children shall permanently become mine!"

A spiked forearm fell on her left shoulder just as Do'xran opened his eyes.

But Terra saw no trace of Do'xran in those eyes, for they were as black and faceted as those of the beast that stood before him.

"Your body, soul, mind and children shall forever become mine!"

ͼͽ

"No!" Terra shouted as she whirled around to confront the monster behind her, her heart racing.

But she was no longer in the dark room with the strange console. She was back in the stones room. Riverstone stood in front of her, her hand drawn away from Terra as she looked at her with surprise. Terra glanced around the room as her heart pounded uncontrollably.

"Terra," Riverstone said, turning her head to look at Terra with her left eye, "you okay?"

Terra breathed heavily as she again glanced around the room at the four Viterosaurs.

"What's wrong Terra?" Addamo said, giving her a concerned look.

"I-I had a nightmare again," Terra managed to stutter out.

"What?" Vitero-Eli asked, "So soon?"

"It was different this time," Terra added as she looked from Tarvock to Addamo, then to Riverstone and Vitero-Eli. "It spoke to me…saying, 'the time is almost upon' me."

Å

End Chapter 10


	11. Mind Machine - Part 3

**2/11/13 Hey readers! Well, I think you all waited long enough for this chapter to come out. It's the exciting conclusion to the previous two chapters! In this chapter, we find out just exactly what is going on with Terra. Hopefully, this chapter will dispell any worries or confusion any of you might have gotten from reading the previous chapters. This chapter not only explains what's happening to Terra, but it also sets up the story for the eventual departure of the Viterosaur's. Yes, eventually leave within the next few chapters. They have had quite a good run. But most of you complained that they don't seem to be serving any purpose within this story, or that they are terribly overpowered for dinosaurs. I hope this chapter serves to change some of your views on the Viterosaur's, because this chapter serves to show you that they are in no way shape or form overpowered. They are just as capable as any average human being, albeit slightly stronger and with more stamina. They are, after all, dinosaurs. Not only that, but this chapter also reveals to you that they had a purpose in coming to this universe. I do not create OC's and plunk them into my stories just for the hell of it or just to fill up an empty ship. No, every OC I create serves some purpose within my stories. And the Viterosaur's will ultimately fulfill their purposes within this story. But anyway, I hope this chapter isn't TOO long. 31 pages seems a reasonable amount to me for an action-packed concluding chapter to the previous two chapters. I hope you guys enjoy the read, because I sure as hell enjoyed writing this chapter. Now, my fan fiction writing will go on hiatus for the rest of this semester, as I need to focus on my English courses and do good. No, this is not the end of my writing, just a long break. By summer break, I'll be working on my fan fictions again. Anyways, READ IT AND ENJOY IT! And most important of all, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! I NEED reviews in order to understand what YOU, my readers, think about my writing. It's the only thing at this point that keeps me writing guys. It's for the survival of my stories!**

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><p>115/13

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><p>Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum<p>

By: Filip Lesiczka

This story was written by and is copyrighted to Filip Lesiczka. Please do not reproduce or distribute without permission.

This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

Mind Machine - Part 3

The infirmary was quiet as Tarvock swept the tablet back and forth by Terra's head and shook his head as it beeped with a negative response. He looked up at Terra, "Nothing, as usual."

Terra sighed, "As usual, but the nightmares are nothing but unusual. But this time it was different."

Tarvock shrugged, "You said it told you 'the time has almost come'?"

Terra nodded, "Yes…but it also…" She reached and massaged her left shoulder, "It touched me. Tarvock, I know when I am dreaming and when I am not. But I swear on Hezhok's name that what I felt was real."

"Certain types of dreams and nightmares have a way of triggering certain nerve signals," said Tarvock, "leading to the feeling of being touched."

Terra shook her head, "No. This was real Tarvock. No Petrus'iri ever swears upon Hezhok's name unless they truly meant what they were saying."

Tarvock walked over to the table with the various medical instruments and the microscope that TJ had once used so many years ago, placing the tablet face up on the table. "I've got to be honest with you Terra," he said as he turned and leaned back against the table. "It's frustrating, very frustrating to watch you suffer so silently like this, and be unable to do anything about it." He closed his eyes and hung his head, "I honestly wish I could see what you're seeing, just so I can understand what it is you're going through. If I could, maybe then I'll know exactly what I can do to help."

Terra hopped off the bed, "Believe me Tarvock, you would not want to see what I see." She looked down at the floor for a moment, "It is not something anyone should see. But you may help me by scanning the forward section of the ship for any signs of an anomaly."

"Alright," the bio-android replied, "I'll run a scan later tonight. But if just a glimpse of it could help me understand what is going on, then you wouldn't have to go through it anymore."

Terra shook her head, "Perhaps…but as your friend, I would not want you to see it, for of your safety and sanity."

ͼͽ

The door to her quarters closed behind her as she walked in with a sigh. Glancing towards the beds, she saw that Fay'on'ri and Do'xran were awake, sitting up in the bed, both were hunched over and looking down at Terra's tablet, which sat in Do'xran's lap. Mirr'en'ri sat at the end of the bed, laying across the width of the bed on her belly, her legs up and kicking in the air while she stared down at her own tablet.

"No," Do'xran declared, "I'm telling you Fay, it was a critical systems alarm that went off!"

Fay'on'ri shook her head and asserted in her scratchy voice, "D, if it was a critical systems alarm, why would it be all the way out there in the front of the ship? There's almost no air to breathe there and all of those systems out there were turned off before mom got on the ship!"

Terra blinked upon hearing what they were arguing about, "What is all this ruckus about?"

Mirr'en'ri was the first to respond to her question, "Fay and D are getting all mad at each other over some kind of blinking red dot on the screen."

"It's not a red dot Mirr," Do'xran stated, "it's showing the location of a critical systems malfunction out in the front of the ship!"

"But there's nothing that's on out there to malfunction D!" Fay exclaimed, and Terra sensed that the argument was reaching a boiling point.

As Do'xran turned to Fay'on'ri to retort angrily, Terra cleared her throat and the room fell silent as all three turned to look up at their mother. "What have I told you about arguing with one another?"

Do'xran and Fay'on'ri both averted their gazes down to the bed sheets. Do'xran spoke first while keeping his gaze down, "To resolve the argument without the need of anger."

"And what were you both doing just now?" Terra asked as she folded her arms beneath her breasts.

"Getting angry at each other," Fay'on'ri answered.

Terra nodded, "Very good. Anger does not solve anything, whether it be a fight for survival, a battle, political disagreement, or a simple argument." She unfolded her arms and walked over to the bed, sitting down beside Do'xran. "You must communicate with one another calmly, to persuade through the use of peaceful conversation, not through heated disagreement." She smiled as both Do'xran and Fay'on'ri glanced up at her, "Lig'dram kavleez?"

Do'xran and Fay'on'ri slowly nodded in response.

"Yu'frec," Terra said with an affirmative nod, then turned her attention to the tablet in Do'xran's lap. "Now, let us see if we can solve whatever it is you two disagree upon," she said, lifting the tablet off of Do'xran's lap and setting it on her own lap.

Do'xran pointed to the blinking red dot that highlighted an area of the layout of the Destiny on the tablet. "That," he stated.

Terra stared at the blinking indicator on the screen. It was no critical systems malfunction indicator, but rather something far more sinister.

_"You will be mine!"_ the words rang in her head again.

She stood up and quickly walked over to the door and exited the room.

"Jex'va?" Fay'on'ri called after her, but her mother did not hear.

_"Not if I can help it,"_ she thought to herself as she rushed down the corridor towards the control interface room.

ͼͽ

Young and TJ stood outside the door to the infirmary, conversing with one another. TJ shook her head in response to something Young asked her, causing Young to draw a deep breath and sigh as he scratched the back of his head in frustration. He looked up at TJ and gave her a single pat on the shoulder, nodding as he said something to her and began heading down the corridor.

"Col.," TJ called after him. He stopped and turned to look at her once more, "If anyone can help us at this point, it's them. They've probably already dealt with this thing before. Maybe they can help us save both of them."

"I know," Young responded, "I'm heading over to talk with them right now."

With that, he turned once more and quickly walked down the corridor, turning right as he reached the end.

TJ stood there for a little while longer, staring down the empty corridor, her mind wandering. She had tried everything she possible could to stop the progression of the AI's virus. But nothing had worked at all.

She turned to look back into the infirmary, where both Terra and Greer lay on beds, stripped of all their clothing except the bare minimum. Both of them were breathing heavily, almost panting. TJ walked in and stood between either of their beds, her worry growing with each passing minute.

Both Greer and Terra were sweating profusely. But they were not sweating normal sweat. Rather, a thick reddish-brown mucus coated both of their bodies, excreted by their own pores.

TJ shook her head, _"How the hell am I supposed to save them? I don't even know what's happening to them except that they look like they're…melting or changing," _she thought to herself as her eyes fell on Terra, who was perhaps experiencing the worst of the virus. Terra's upper lip curled back into a silent snarl and she clutched at her belly as she kicked her feet. _"I can only hope that I was fast enough to save her kids,"_ she thought, as she walked around Terra's bed and over to a small glass compartment.

Peering inside the glass compartment, TJ saw the three small Petrus'iri infants she immediately removed from Terra's belly via surgery twenty-four hours earlier. All three of the infants were small, but about the same size as any newborn human infant. Their scales had not fully developed, leaving them with a smooth and leathery, but fragile skin layer. This led TJ to believe that their scales would eventually grow out in the coming weeks or months.

All three of the children huddled close to one another, sound asleep. The child on the right side stirred for a moment, but did not wake. TJ smiled, but her thoughts returned to when Terra had told her about her pregnancy. She wondered if removing the infants from the womb a month early would have any negative effects.

Terra stirred again, groaning quietly. TJ turned away from the incubator and returned to Terra's side, picking up a wet towel and wiping away the reddish-brown mucus that coated her scales. As she wiped away a thick layer of the mucus covering Terra's nostrils, TJ spoke softly to both the Petrus'iri and Greer, "I'm going to save both of you, I promise. Just…just hold on a little while longer for me, please."

ͼͽ

The door to their confinement room suddenly opened. Addamo, Tarvock and Vitero-Eli all turned to see Young walk though the door. Although Young wore a serious look, the Viterosaur's could clearly sense he was either in conflict with himself, or very worried.

"Something wrong?" Addamo asked as he looked down at Young.

Stopping in front of them, Young sighed, "I'm going to need your help," he said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"Oh?" Addamo said as he narrowed his eyes. "What made you change your mind after two days of keeping us in here?"

Young was silent for a moment, then answered, "Terra and Eli were attacked yesterday…by something." He paused as he chewed on his lip for a moment, "Now Terra and Greer in the infirmary."

"And you think we know what attacked them…" Addamo observed as he turned his back towards Young, walked between Tarvock and Vitero-Eli and stopped to gaze out the window. "I'll tell you right now Everett, I don't know what's attacking your people."

"It's different than our universe," Tarvock said as he faced Young.

"Different?" Young furrowed his eyebrows, "But you know at least something about what it is, right?"

Tarvock shook his head, "I wish I did know something about it, Col. But I can assure you that you don't have a rogue VI attacking your people…at least that's what I can tell from what Col. Addamo has told me."

"VI?"

"Virtual Intelligence," Vitero-Eli replied. "Our…ghost, was a rogue VI that our Destiny picked up probably several thousand years before we arrived on the ship."

"We found logs about it in Destiny's database," Tarvock added. "It was a peaceful VI that came through the gate when Destiny came upon a technologically advanced world. The dominant race had gone extinct millions of years ago, but the technology had persisted through time. The VI offered to oversee the organization of all the data that Destiny gathered, in exchange for preservation within the ships mainframe."

"That sounds almost like an AI," Young stated.

Tarvock shook his head, "No. I won't bore you anymore with talk of technology, but some time after we arrived on Destiny, something changed in the VI and it went rogue a week after we picked up Terra."

Young pondered what he had just been told. "If it was something that resided within the ships mainframe, then it wouldn't have been able to physically attack Terra."

Tarvock nodded his head, "Precisely. I believe you have something far worse than a rogue VI."

"But what could it be?" Vitero-Eli asked.

"I'm not sure," Tarvock answered. He glanced up towards the ceiling and was silent for a moment, seeming to silently converse with some invisible being. "Destiny has just requested I look into an anomaly it has detected somewhere within the ship. Is that alright with you Col.?"

Young looked at Tarvock with a bit of suspicion, "Destiny asked you?" Tarvock nodded. Young sighed, "Well…I'm not thrilled that the ship has complete trust in you…but if it gives us an edge over what this thing is, then you have a go."

"That's it?" Addamo asked as he turned his head and peered over his right shoulder back at Young. "Just like that? That's not the Everett I know."

"You don't know me," Young immediately repsonded. "I don't like it, but if this thing is as dangerous as Eli says it is, you people are the best chance we have at getting this thing off our ship."

"So, you pretending to trust us has nothing to do with us helping you out earlier with your Eli, does it?" Addamo asked.

Young sighed, "What do you want from me?"

Addamo turned to face Young and set both eyes upon him, "Your genuine trust. We've been here for two weeks, _two weeks_! We gave you as much information as we could regarding what might happen later on in the future."

"But it's turned out different than how you said it would play out," Young responded.

"Everett!" Addamo said with a hint of frustration on his voice, "that's beside the point. Our universe is three weeks ahead of yours and we're trying to give you a heads up on everything that _could_ happen. Just because our universes are different, that doesn't mean you can't at least prepare yourself for what could happen!" By then, Addamo had raised his raspy voice slightly and his ears swiveled down and back. His tail flicked side to side in his anger

"Col.," said Tarvock, who was looking at Addamo with concern in his yellow eyes.

His ears eased up and Addamo closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry…I just wish you'd see the situation from our perspective. We're along for the ride, whether you like it or not. We're just trying to help out as much as we can while we're here."

Young looked from Addamo, to Vitero-Eli, to Tarvock.

"Col.," said Vitero-Eli, "You'd be doing the same thing if you were in our position."

Young glanced down at the floor, "Sorry. It's just that we've had a few bad experiences with alternate universes."

"You're not alone in that Everett," Addamo said. "We've had them too. But we're-"

"Oh no, this isn't good," said Tarvock. He glanced at Young, "You're not going to like what I found."

"What'd you find?" Young asked.

Tarvock blinked as he paused to make sure that the information he'd uncovered was accurate, "Something even worse than all of the weapons of mass destruction on your Earth combined." The android glanced at Addamo for a brief moment, then back at Young, "I'm not exactly sure what it is yet, but the name Tojeq is popping up and its labeled as extremely dangerous. If I had direct access to your Petrus'iri database, I'll know exactly what it is then."

Young stiffened upon hearing the name 'Tojeq', as he had overheard Terra speak about the Tojeq being a dangerous species that had exterminated every sentient race in her galaxy millions of years ago. He turned as he took a step back to exit the room, "Let's go. I need to see what you found in the interface room."

ͼͽ

Sam sat at the table in front of the laptop monitoring the communication stones, her claws clacking away on the individual keys. McKay also sat at the table off to Sam's right, his attention on the tablet sitting on the table directly in front of him. He held his own communication stone in his hand, fiddling with it and turning it this way and that way between his fingers. He seemed to be frustrated or somewhat disturbed by what he saw on his tablet.

Sam stopped typing and shook her hands, groaning somewhat as she massaged between each finger. McKay glanced up, "What's wrong?"

Still massaging her fingers, Sam replied, "Typing with only four fingers on each hand is a bit harder than I thought. Keep forgetting that I have to hit that other or last letter in a word with the same finger, rather than my pinky." She resumed typing away, "Makes me wonder how these dinosaurs manage to do anything with their fingers without getting any painful cramps."

McKay returned his attention back to his tablet and shrugged, "Maybe having four fingers is easier or better than having five." He stared down at the screen of the tablet for a few more moments before he spoke about what was troubling him, "Hey, something's up with the stones again. Have you noticed-?"

Sam finished his question for him, "The gradual fade in the spikes?"

"Yeah," McKay replied.

Sam nodded, "I saw it about an hour ago. It's like whatever is trying to hack the connections is starting to give up."

"You mean the reversal isn't being stalled anymore?"

Sam shook her head, "No, it's still being stalled. But the efforts to maintain the stalling are gradually fading. More so in your connection than in mine."

McKay pondered for a moment as he glanced to the stone in his hand. He seemed to consider something, then he replaced the stone on the pedestal. "You're not…feeling any different, are you?"

Sam shook her head as she looked up at McKay, "No…why?"

McKay scratched his head, "I don't know, I just…I've been really dizzy and lightheaded for the passed hour." He stopped as he realized what he'd just said and looked at Sam, "You don't think it has anything to do with the fading in my connections reversal, do you?"

Sam was silent for a few seconds as she kept her eyes on McKay, "I don't know. Maybe…but I don't know why it would be causing you to be dizzy or lightheaded."

"You've still got all of the General's memories?"

"Yeah, why?"

McKay shook his head, "Cause an hour ago, I could have given you Lt. Scott's entire life's story. Now I can only remember up to his initiation into the Stargate Program."

Sam quickly glanced at the laptop screen as she pulled up the connection monitor. McKay's connection had become minimal in the last hour. _Is the reversal almost complete?_ she asked herself.

McKay gave her a look as she glanced back at him, "I'm going back, aren't I?"

Sam slowly nodded her head, "I guess so. Not yet, but soon."

McKay sighed, then smirked as he laughed for a moment.

"What's so funny?" Sam asked.

"Tell Lt. Scott when he gets back here that I won't tell anyone anything when I get back to Earth." He pursed his lips and indicated with his hand that he was zipping his lips, "Completely silent about it."

"About what?"

McKay pointed at Sam, "Exactly."

Sam cocked her head to one side in confusion, but said nothing further. Instead, she returned to attempting to stop whatever was hacking the stone connections and resume the reversal.

ͼͽ

Riverstone sat straight up in the bed with a gasp. She breathed heavily as she looked around at her surroundings. She was in the infirmary in the SGC.

"Hey," someone's voice said next to her. Glancing to her right, it was Mitchell.

Riverstone groaned as she stood up, "Mitchell?" She glanced around her, double-checking to make sure she was not dreaming, "What the hell am I still doing here?"

Mitchell shrugged in response. "We can't say for sure, since McKay is still on the Destiny." He glanced over his right shoulder back at Scott, who sat two beds behind him. Scott sat on the edge of the bed as Dr. Lam handed him a cup of water in one hand and dropped a pill in the other. "Though we think Lt. Scott's connection is beginning to reverse," Mitchell continued as he turned to look at Riverstone again. "He's losing McKay's memories, which we're thinking is a good sign."

Riverstone shuffled her body on the bed and swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge. "Why the hell did he have Rodney's memories?" she asked as she leaned forward and buried her face in her hands.

Again Mitchell shrugged, "Beats me…you alright, Gen.?"

Sitting up straight, Riverstone took a deep breath, "Just big headache, that's all."

Mitchell nodded, "Yep, same story with Lt. Scott just before he got all of McKay's memories. Wouldn't be surprised if-"

Mitchell's voice suddenly faded and the room melted away around her. Riverstone was left sitting in total darkness and nothingness. And then, she began to remember.

Sam's childhood memories washed over her, completely drowning her in emotions she had not felt in ages. Riverstone remembered the day she kissed her first boy in second grade. She remembered just how much military history and technology fascinated her, how she one day wanted to be a soldier and a scientist. Then her high school days flashed by; she'd dated so many boys by that point that she'd lost count of how many she actually dated. Then came her best friends funeral, one of her childhood friends that she'd grown up with her entire life and who died in a nightclub fire. It was a traumatic experience for her, to lose someone so close to her.

College sped by as quickly as it came as Riverstone had graduated in less than three years, earning degrees in advanced technology, quantum physics, computer science and military science. From there, Riverstone headed straight into the military. It wasn't until a little over fifteen years ago that she'd been introduced to the Stargate Program, and where her perilous and exciting adventures started. The most prominent memories came. Apophis had foiled SG-1's ambush on the Nox home world…and the first to fall was Jack; the many days she spent with her father after Selmak blended with him; the battles with the Replicators; her fathers dying words to her; and her struggles with SG-1 against the Ori invasion of the galaxy.

Mitchell's voice calling out to her finally brought Riverstone back to the infirmary, "…alright?" Mitchell waved his hand in front of Riverstone's face. Riverstone blinked. "Let me guess," Mitchell said as he leaned back, "you remember, don't you?"

Riverstone slowly nodded her head in response, but was unable to say anything. She knew what she had just remembered were not her memories, she knew they didn't belong to her…but she felt as if she'd been living with those memories all her life, as if they were a part of her to begin with.

Mitchell sighed, "Well, since Scott's losing McKay's memories, then maybe the same will happen to you pretty soon."

Riverstone blinked again and shook her head, trying to rid the residual emotions she felt from the memories. She groaned as her headache returned. "I need an aspirin," she called out to Dr. Lam. Hearing her, Dr. Lam went to the nearest cabinet on the wall and pulled out a plastic medicine vial.

"How long have I been out?" Riverstone asked as Dr. Lam walked over and handed her two green and white pills and a plastic cup of water.

"About five days now," Dr. Lam replied. "We were starting to worry if you'd ever wake up again."

Riverstone tossed the pills into her mouth and downed the cup of water in one gulp. "Do we know how many casualties we had?"

Dr. Lam sighed as she thought of how many body bags she'd already seen, "The last bodies to be trucked out of here brought the total to fifty. Lucian casualties number about a hundred and ninety."

Riverstone sighed, "Well, at least your universe had it better than mine."

"How bad was it?" Mitchell asked.

Riverstone averted her eyes to the floor and was silent for a moment before she spoke, "We lost over half the SGC population…and Gen. Landry."

Mitchell and Dr. Lam both looked at one another simultaneously. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," said Mitchell.

"Don't be. It's how fate played out in my universe."

"Whether you like it or not General," Dr. Lam stated, prompting Riverstone to look up at her, "we're humans. As humans, we have a natural tendency to express our sentiment to others, whether human or not."

Riverstone kept her eyes on Dr. Lam for a few moments longer before averting her gaze to the floor again, "I'm sorry…I just…" She looked up at Mitchell, "It's still hard for me to adjust to you humans, despite being here for two weeks now."

Mitchell nodded, "Yeah. I know what you mean."

ͼͽ

Young entered the interface room, followed by Tarvock and Vitero-Eli. Addamo walked in a few steps behind them. Brody looked up as Young walked in and approached him. "Something wrong, Col.?" he asked, his eyes quickly darted over towards the Viterosaurs before looking back at Young.

"We've got a problem," Young responded immediately. "Can you pull up the Petrus'iri database on the screen?"

Brody nodded, "Yeah." He switched a few dials and switches before glancing over towards the screen. "What's this about? Why do you need their database?"

Tarvock had walked around one of the outer control consoles next to Brody and began to rapidly sift through the massive database. "There's something on this ship…something very dangerous." A mass of different windows of Petrus'iri data began to cascade on the screen that Young stood in front of.

Brody turned his head towards the bio-android, "You aren't talking about whatever attacked Sgt. Kim, Cpl. Higgs and Terra…are you?"

"That's exactly what he's talking about," Addamo said as he stopped just behind Young, his eyes turned up to the screen as well. "We know for a fact that it's not a rogue VI, but what we don't know is what it is exactly. Tarvock's got a hunch though."

"More than just a 'hunch,' Col.," Tarvock said from where he stood on Brody's right at the control console. Vitero-Eli stood on Tarvock's left, looking down at the screen on Tarvock's control console. "Destiny tagged it as an organic anomaly within a dormant non-critical system near the front of the ship." His eyes rapidly flicked back and forth as he sifted through the database at near instantaneous speed. "It's not just attached to the physical part of this system…but it's actually literally become a part of this system. Since it's not a virus, Destiny can't fight it so it's already taken complete control of that system."

"Wait wait wait," Brody said as he shook his head in disbelief, "you're saying that something…organic has actually worked its way into one of the ships systems? Is that even possible?"

Tarvock was silent, his eyes continued to dart back and forth as he searched.

"It is now," Vitero-Eli answered Brody's question.

"But how can something that's not a computer virus attach itself and…become a part of a computer system?" Young asked as he turned around towards Tarvock and Vitero-Eli. Addamo glanced towards them as well. "It can't be digital data if it's organic."

Tarvock blinked once and his fingers froze as he stared down at the screen. Vitero-Eli peered down at the screen. "Every race in every galaxy of the universe is capable of advances in technology," Tarvock said. Then he looked up towards Young, "In this case, the Tojeq created an artificial intelligence…that is in every sense of the word, 'organic'."

All eyes turned to the screen Young stood in front of.

A diagram of a gruesome creature rotated three hundred sixty degrees on the screen.

The head and arms of a praying mantis; the body, legs, feet and claws of a raptor; a long thin tail tipped by a deadly spike; and exoskeletal plates covering its entire body from the base of the head to the end of its tail.

"Tojeq," Brody quietly repeated as he gaped at the gruesome diagram on the screen.

"The rightfully named, 'Destroyers of Worlds'," Tarvock stated as he looked back down on his screen. "From what I've just read about the Petrus'iri of this universe, about forty thousand years ago a team of Petrus'iri seeded a world with an 'Eye,' or Stargate…and unknowingly awakened the Tojeq from their ancient hibernation. Seeding that world allowed the Tojeq easy access to every planet in the galaxy…and they were bent on exterminating every intelligent race in the galaxy.

"But the Petrus'iri wouldn't stand by and watch their allies and their galaxy fall. War erupted between them and the Tojeq, and every battle was a stalemate. A thousand years of galactic war ensued." Tarvock paused as he pulled up a window of information on his console screen. "It's different in this universe; in yours, after a thousand years the Tojeq simply vanish from the galaxy. In our universe civil war broke out between their military and society, forcing the Tojeq to withdraw all troops from around the galaxy back to their home world…and they ended up destroying one another after they unwittingly disrupted the stability of their planets core, effectively wiping out their species and everything about them."

"What about here?" asked Brody.

Tarvock was silent for a moment. Young, Brody and Addamo all turned their heads toward him. His cat-like pupils dilated and expanded suddenly as he looked up, "They vanished with no trace of them, their technology or even their cities…only one artifact of their existence was recovered…the micro-core of a data unit from a Tojeq supercomputer. After that, the organic AI is mentioned for the first time."

"I don't like the sound of that," said Brody. Young and Addamo looked towards him. "Sounds to me like the whole species was assimilated into this…organic AI. That this organic AI _is_ the whole of the Tojeq species and their technology."

"Alright," said Young as he clasped his hands together behind his back and looked to Tarvock, "where is this non-critical system?"

ͼͽ

Terra rushed into the interface room with the tablet in hand. Tarvock and Vitero-Eli both looked up from their consoles. "What's the rush?" asked Tarvock as she quickly came up to him and stopped on the opposite side of his console. She thrust the tablet in her hand in his direction.

Still looking at her with worry, Tarvock took the tablet from her. "Is something wrong?" He studied her carefully, noticing that her adrenaline levels were elevated.

Terra indicated with a finger towards the tablet, "It is there. Tarvock, the source of my nightmares is on this very ship!"

Tarvock's eyes fell down to the blinking red dot on the diagram of the Destiny. Vitero-Eli pushed away from his console and stopped on the android's right as he looked down at the tablet as well. "Look's like a critical systems malfunction indicator," said Vitero-Eli. "But there's nothing that far in the front of the ship that's critical…is there?"

"More importantly," Tarvock said as he stared down at the tablet, "Why is it only showing up on Terra's tablet?"

Before Terra could say anything, a distant disembodied whisper began to speak to her, _"Come to me…come to me and face your destiny!"_

Terra looked off to her left, down the opposite corridor, but saw nothing. Instead, the end of the corridor itself seemed to grow increasingly distant, seemingly to stretch in length.

She blinked and looked away. _"No,"_ she thought to herself as she looked back at Tarvock, _"the time has come that I stop my pitiful fearfulness. It must stop! It is time for me to confront my nightmare!"_

"That is why I have come to show you this," Terra stated, bringing her thoughts back to the conversation. The android glanced up at her, "Tarvock, I saw this same diagram and critical systems malfunction indicator in the nightmare I had not too long ago."

Vitero-Eli looked up at Terra, "So, you're saying is this is an indicator of…"

Terra's eyes darted between the android and Vitreo-Eli, "The subject of my nightmares…the creature that has been plaguing me all these years."

"You sure it's not just an error with your tablet?" Tarvock asked, glancing at the tablet again and tapping the screen. "I ran a scan of the forward section of the ship Terra. There's nothing there."

She shook her head, "Tarvock, I have already told you that a Petrus'iri never swears upon Hezhok's name unless they truly meant what they are saying." Again, she pointed at the tablet, "There is only one explanation for what this could mean…and that this creature is calling to me."

Again, a distant disembodied whisper spoke to her, _"The time has come, Terra'sha'ri. You shall be mine! Come to me, face your destiny!"_

"Tarvock," Terra said, her voice growing stern, "it exists, here on this ship. You must believe me. We must act now if we are going to put a stop to my nightmares!"

Tarvock and Vitero-Eli glanced at one another for a moment.

"This is the only lead we've gotten on her nightmares in twenty-five years, Tarvock," Vitero-Eli stated. "Maybe what's affecting her is actually real and has been affecting her telepathically. We said we'd help her…this is the only chance we've got to help her."

The android was silent as he looked back at Terra once more. "'A Petrus'iri never swears upon Hezhok's name unless they truly meant what they are saying,'" he said, repeating her words from earlier. He reached down to his belt and unclipped his radio. He raised it up to his snout, pressed the button and spoke, "Tom, Shandra, meet me in front of the transport room outside Hydroponics…get your gear on. And bring Christian with you."

Addamo's voice immediately crackled over the radio, "Get our gear on? The hell's going on?"

"I'll explain at the transport room," Tarvock responded and clipped the radio back onto his belt. "Come on. Let's go get our gear too."

ͼͽ

"What's going on Col.?" Varro asked as he made his way passed three marines standing in front of the transport room. "Why'd we need to get geared up?" He noticed Tarvock and Addamo standing near the door of the room. He eyed them warily.

"We've got an intruder on the ship," Young answered as he removed the magazine from his G36K, checked his ammunition, and replaced it in the weapon. "And we're going to take care of it."

Varro stepped closer to Young and lowered his voice, "What about those two?" He indicated towards the Viterosaurs.

"I've got to start trusting them. The android found out about this thing, and he thinks it's directly linked to what's happening to Greer and Terra." Young looked at the two Viterosaurs, "TJ says both of them don't have much time. So if we take this thing out now, then maybe it'll stop changing them."

"But are you sure that we can really trust them?" Varro asked, keeping his voice low.

Young sighed, as he still wasn't sure himself, "Destiny trusts them. If the ship trusts them enough to let the android access its database, then maybe it's time I trust them too."

Addamo turned his head and looked over his left shoulder at Young with his left eye, "Are your men ready, Everett? Terra and Greer don't have much time left before they're completely turned."

'We're ready when you are," Young replied. "Since we have no idea what we're going up against," Young said as he shifted his eyes from Addamo to Tarvock, "I'm trusting you to take point." Tarvock nodded in response. Young glanced at Varro, "I want you covering our asses." He pointed at Addamo, "You too. The rest of you, stay sharp. We don't know what it's capable of, but what we do know is that it can change you into one of its own if it scratches you."

"If Brody is right about this thing assimilating every individual of the Tojeq race and their technology," Addamo added, "then it more than likely has an extensive database of military combat strategies at its disposal." He turned and faced the five marines that were present, "I know that you boys probably don't trust me or Tarvock…but know that we're fighting to protect you all and this ship from this threat. I don't expect you to trust us after this whole thing, but we're involved in this as much as you are, whether you like it or not." Then he glanced at Young and nodded, shifting the weight of the M249 Para light machine gun hanging from the strap around his chest.

Young raised his radio up and spoke, "Open the doors Brody." The gears on the transport room doors unlocked and the doors parted, revealing an empty but sizable space within. The nine of them filed into the room and the doors closed behind Tarvock. Young spoke into the radio again, "Eli, you two sure you can't get us any closer to where we need to go?"

There was static for a moment before Eli's voice crackled from Young's radio, "The only other transport room on the same floor is further away from the room than the one we're sending you to."

"Little walking won't kill us Col.," one of the marines said.

"Alright," said Young. "Still no life signs, Rush?"

Rush's voice crackled from the radio in response, "No life signs within the room or surrounding corridors. Perhaps it is shielding itself from Destiny's sensors."

"We are dealing with an alien AI after all," Eli's voice added.

Young nodded and spoke once more into his radio, "Alright. Even we can't see it on sensors, we know its there…we're ready."

"Very well," Rush's voice replied. "Standby. Sealing off depressurized corridors…replenishing atmosphere and oxygen levels." There was a pause of static before Rush's voice added, "Okay, we're sending you now. Mr. Brody."

A white light within the room suddenly surrounded them.

ͼͽ

The transport room door opened and Addamo immediately took on step out the door, aiming his M4A1 to his left before quickly swinging it to his right. He aimed his weapon ahead of him as he slowly stepped out of the transport room.

Tarvock stepped out behind him, holding only his Beretta 92FS in both hands. He glanced down at the floor as he felt his foot sink into something soft. The floors, walls and ceiling of the corridor junction were covered with what looked to be a carpet of reddish-brown fleshy tendrils. "Well," he said as he stood in the junction and glanced down the left corridor, "looks like you were right Terra. Something's definitely here."

Terra stepped out and stopped beside Addamo, who had his weapon aimed down the corridor directly ahead of them, "Yes, and by the look of things, it has been here for a very long time." She let her M4A1 hang by its strap on her shoulder and raised her radio to her snout, "Eli, we have safely made it. Where must we go now?"

She glanced behind her when she heard someone snort in disgust. Riverstone and Christian had walked out into the corridor as well. Christian looked all around him in disgust, "God, this is both creepy and disgusting at the same time." He shifted the M249 Para light machine gun that he cradled, lifted one foot up and glanced down. "Ugh, this'll be a bitch to wash out."

"Quit complaining kid," Riverstone said while she aimed her G36K down the corridor on their right. "You're father and I have seen and been through worse."

"You don't want to know what it's like being swallowed alive and regurgitated by a big alien whale, son," Addamo stated as his ears lay down slightly.

"And you were?" Christian asked.

Addamo only glanced over his left shoulder and looked at the white Viterosaur with his left eye.

Christian averted his golden gaze away from his father, "Right…shouldn't have asked."

Vitero-Eli's voice crackled over the radio, "I've got you guys on sensors. Looks like the quickest route is straight ahead of you." There was a pause of static as everyone began to press forward down the corridor. Then he asked, "What's it look like down there?"

Addamo was the first to answer as he called back over his shoulder to Terra's radio, "Like the inside of a whale's stomach." He took the lead as they carefully walked down the corridor.

"It seems as if the creature has been present here for a very long time," Terra replied into her radio. "I would not be surprised if it has spread beyond this section of the ship."

"Great," Christian said as he carefully placed each foot behind him and walked backwards, keeping his eyes towards the transport room, "a monster capable of spreading and taking over the ship. Just what we needed."

"We don't know if it can take over the ship, Christian," Tarvock stated as he walked beside Addamo, training his Beretta down the corridor. "All we know is that whatever it is, it's connected to Terra and finds her very interesting."

"But why only Terra?" Vitero-Eli's voice asked from the radio. "Why not all of us?"

"Like I just said," Tarvock replied, "it's somehow connected to her. Why only her? I don't know."

"But this creature has been haunting me for twenty-five years," Terra observed. "It could have taken control of me at any moment in that time. Why now? Why reveal its intentions and presence to me now?"

"Because you're its prey, Terra," Riverstone answered while she walked backwards with Christian. "A predator may stalk its prey for hours, and even days before it moves in for the kill. It probably has been waiting for a chance to finally seize control over you while you're most vulnerable."

"Not just me," said Terra. She spoke into the radio again, "Eli, are my children safe?"

"Don't worry," Vitero-Eli's voice responded, "they're all still here, safe with me."

_"Hezhok protect them,"_ Terra thought as she clipped her radio to her vest and took hold of her assault rifle again. She quickly flipped a switch on the radio that would allow them to keep in constant contact with Vitero-Eli.

They finally reached the end of the fleshy corridor. It was another junction of four corridors. However, the left corridor was blocked by a wall of crisscrossed tendrils. The corridor on their right was blocked by a door.

Addamo stopped and knelt down on one knee, "Which way Eli? Left is a dead end and there's a door on our right side."

"You've got to get that door open Col.," Vitero-Eli's voice crackled in response. "I can't open it from here."

Addamo glanced at Tarvock, who had already holstered his Beretta. The android moved closer to the door and examined the locking mechanism, then the door controls. "Terra, you still have your knife on you?" he asked. Terra unsheathed the large combat knife strapped to her thigh and handed it to the android, holding it by the black blade.

Tarvock thanked her as he took the knife and turned back to the door controls. He pried the controls off the door frame, exposing the various illuminated crystals within. "This shouldn't take me too long," he said and immediately began digging his fingers in amongst the control crystals.

"Dad," Christian called over his shoulder to Addamo, "I've got that feeling again…something's not right." He eyed the end of the corridor they had just walked down.

"I as well," Riverstone said as she too watched the end of the corridor, her fingers gripped the handle of her weapon tightly as she grew tense. "There's something here…watching us."

Addamo shrugged as he stared ahead of him, "This place is just creepy, that's what's probably giving you two that feeling." He glanced at Terra, who was also gripping her weapon tightly in anxiety.

Tarvock placed one foot back as he reached his fingers in passed the control crystals one last time, "And that should…"

ͼͽ

The doors opened, and Tarvock pushed himself away. He quickly unholstered his Beretta and aimed down the dark corridor, turning on the flashlight on the end of the pistols muzzle. "…do it," he finished his sentence. He flicked his tail upwards once before cautiously pressing forward into the dark corridor.

"God," one of the marines said as he and the others followed closely behind Young, "I'm definitely going to have nightmares about this place for a few weeks."

"Least you won't have nightmares of being swallowed alive by an alien whale for a year," Addamo said as he and Varro cautiously stepped backwards together as they watched the corridor behind the group.

"An alien whale?" Varro asked, glancing sideways at the Viterosaur. One foot slipped on the slick carpet of fleshy tendrils, but he quickly regained his balance.

"Yeah. Was underwater beneath Atlantis, on my way to a drilling rig on the sea floor. Whale must have been hungry, cause it swallowed the whole jumper I was in. Spit me back out about two hours later." The fur on Addamo's shoulders stood up on end as he shivered.

"I forgot you were involved in a lot more than Col. Carter or Dr. McKay," another marine said. "Don't think any of us can compare our experiences with yours."

Suddenly, the star heart on Addamo's neck began to glow brightly, bathing the fleshy corridor in its bright bluish-white light.

Tarvock stopped. His flashlight pointed straight, down the dark corridor. He whipped his arms to the left, shining the flashlight down another dark corridor.

"Something's coming," Addamo stated as he looked up.

"Where?" Young asked as he readied his G36K.

"I…I don't know," Addamo answered as he braced his M249 against the crook of his shoulder.

"Eli?" Young asked into the radio strapped to his vest.

"Nothing on life signs, but something's moving in your direction," Eli's voice crackled back over the radio.

"Your sensors picking anything up, Tarvock?" Vitero-Eli's voice crackled from the radio as well.

Young looked at the androids back. The android shook his head, "I'm not picking up any life signs either…" His tail was slowly twitching from side to side in anticipation. "But something's definitely triggering my motion sensors…wait, I think…" His long ears pricked up and his tail froze.

Suddenly, the flashlight on his Beretta popped and died. A moment later, three rapid shots rang out as he fired his pistol. In that instant, the dark corridor was illuminated by the muzzle flash, as well as something else. A terrible high-pitched squealing and snarling could be heard.

Tarvock was swept off his feet as something collided with him into his chest. He grunted upon the impact with his chest. The sound of a dull metallic thud rang out upon his back hitting the wall behind him.

Young and the marines all trained their weapons and flashlights where they'd heard Tarvock hit the wall. He only saw it for a split second before it quickly jumped off Tarvock's chest and disappeared into the darkness, but that was enough to set his heart racing.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" one of the marines exclaimed as he and another marine moved to assist the android to his feet. He pointed his assault rifle and flashlight down the darkened corridor the strange twisted creature had disappeared down.

The other marine reached a hand out to Tarvock and helped him to his feet, "You alright?" He shined his flashlight on Tarvock's chest. A strange mixture of orange and red substances had begun oozing from three parallel slashes on his chest.

The android put a hand over the wounds, "I'll be fine. I've had worse before."

"You see the size of that things claws?" one marine asked loudly.

"What the hell was that?" another marine asked again.

"I…I have no idea," Tarvock responded.

"Anyone else just see that thing take down a six hundred pound android like it was nothing?" the marine closest to Young exclaimed loudly.

"We all did," Young responded calmly, but his heart still raced. "Whatever it was though, the AI knows we're coming for it."

"Stay sharp everyone," Tarvock said as he bent down and picked his Beretta off the fleshy floor. "That creature maybe just as dangerous as the AI. It's surprisingly strong for something its size…strong enough to easily rip its claws through my titanium alloy skin."

"Everett," Addamo said as he aimed down the scope of his LMG, "we've got more incoming! Light 'em up Varro!" The sound of gunfire rang throughout the corridor junction as Varro and Addamo both unleashed streams of endless fire at another creature that had appeared in front of them.

"Everyone stay close together!" Young shouted over their gunfire.

"Contact!" one marine shouted as he knelt down on one knee after backing himself up closer to his comrades and the wall.

"I'm sensing movement in all three directions Col.!" Tarvock shouted at Young as he rapidly fired off his pistol down the corridor to the right.

"Keep firing!" Young shouted as he let off a burst of bullets, the fire from his weapons muzzle joining the sporadic illumination of the dark corridor junction.

ͼͽ

"They're going for Terra! Don't let up!" Riverstone shouted, taking a step back as one of the twisted creatures fell dead at her feet.

Christian jumped back, arching his back as a creature swiped at his belly. He let loose a high pitched raptor-like screech as he cracked the stock of his LMG on top of the attacking creatures head and it dropped dead to the floor.

Another creature lunged at Addamo, swiping its huge claws at his head. The Viterosaur ducked his head, shoved the rifle barrel upwards into the creatures under jaw and pulled the trigger. The creatures head burst outwards, splattering gore, blood and mucus in all directions.

Terra stood between all four Viterosaurs, firing over Riverstone's head at the incoming monstrosities. She chose her shots carefully, watching the swift creatures and analyzing their movements. She timed her trigger pulls to four shot bursts as she predicted where the creatures would move to next.

She successfully dropped four of the creatures, but with each burst she let loose, Terra's concern about her ammunition increased. She'd brought three full magazines with her, plus the one already in her rifle. She was quickly running low on her first magazine already; she was going to have to reload soon, as were the others.

As she studied the creatures' movements, she also took note of their physical characteristics. They were horribly thin creatures, their arms and legs no thicker than Terra's wrists. They appeared to have no eyes at all, but sported overly large earlobes connected to the top of the head and the base of their jaws. They had no lips or nostrils, but instead had very big teeth. They had no bellies, and their ribcages and spines were very prominent. Small pointed spines protruded from their backs, running down the middle of their backs. Their fingers were replaced by huge claws, and their toes were adorned with smaller but sharper claws.

From what Terra could already see of the creatures, they were very human-like in appearance, but showed no signs of human behavior. They jumped about from the floor and clung to the ceiling and walls as they tried to swiftly avoid the bullets fired at them.

She pulled the trigger, and heard the distinctive click that told her she had used up the ammo in the magazine. As quickly as she could, Terra pressed the button to release the empty magazine from its slot while simultaneously reaching into her vest pocket and withdrawing the second magazine, inserting it into the slot the moment the empty magazine fell free from the weapon. Soon, Riverstone was forced to reload, then Tarvock and Addamo.

"_We cannot keep this up,"_ Terra thought as she blew the head of one of the creatures off. Its limp body fell to the floor from where it had been clinging to the ceiling. _"These creatures are going after me,"_ she thought to herself.

Another of the twisted creatures launched itself at Tarvock, but the android had reached up and grabbed it out of the air by its thin neck. He swiftly dispatched it with a simple roll of his thumb and index finger, snapping its neck in two. But that gave one more creature the opportunity to jump up onto his shoulders and propel itself at Terra.

She barely had enough time to react as it swung its huge claws in her direction. She leaned to her left and the creatures claws swept passed the tip of her snout, missing her by mere centimeters. At the same time, Terra ducked down as she reached down and pulled her combat knife free from its sheath. The blade danced gracefully in her fingers before she caught the hilt and thrust it upwards into the creature's sternum as it passed over her.

_"Yes,"_ said a distant voice, _"yes. You can fight for your life, Terra'sha'ri, but your struggles are in vain. It won't be long until you and I are one!"_

She threw the dead creatures body down to her feet and sheathed the knife again. Her eyes darted between each of the Viterosaurs surrounding her, defending her with their lives. _"No. I will not allow them to risk their lives for me. I am the beasts prey, not them."_ She launched herself over Riverstone's head and immediately bolted down the dark corridor directly in front of her. _"If it is me it so desires, then I shall come to it," _she thought as she dodged one creatures claws and leaped over another that lunged at her, spinning once sideways before landing on her feet again. _"It is time I face this monster myself…alone."_

"Terra! No!" Addamo exclaimed.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Riverstone shouted after her. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

_"I'm sorry, my friends,"_ Terra thought to herself as she raced through the darkness. _"But this is my fight, not yours."_ She could hear the high-pitched squeals of the twisted creatures close behind her. The sound of gunfire began to quickly grow distant the further she ran blindly into the darkness. Her feet carried her swiftly over the slick fleshy floor; each foot fall made a sickening splatter. The sounds of the creatures giving chase echoed behind her through the darkness.

She had no idea where she was going, yet somehow she knew how to get there…to the place she saw in her nightmare…to the place where she would face her fears once and for all.

ͼͽ

"They're retreating!" one of the marines exclaimed with relief.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Varro stated uneasily as he kept his weapon trained on the wall of darkness in front of him.

"They're definitely retreating alright," Tarvock stated as he straightened up and wiped a bit of gore off the side of his muzzle. "My motion sensor indicates their moving away from us."

"Eli?" Young asked into his radio while still aiming his rifle down the dark corridor.

"He's right Col.," Vitero-Eli's voice responded over the radio, "they're moving away."

"They may be retreating now," Rush's voice stated, "but I wouldn't be too sure that's the end of it."

"That's what I was thinking," Young replied into his radio. "Everyone, stay sharp. Watch each others backs. I don't think we've seen the last of them just yet." He stood up, "Which way do we go?" he asked towards his radio.

There was a pause of static for a few seconds before Eli's voice replied, "Same way those things went…corridor on your left. You'll want to go straight for the next three junctions."

"And right into three opportunities for those things to ambush us," a marine stated.

"It's the only choice we have, Sgt.," Addamo said calmly. "They'll have a less likely chance of doing any serious damage to us if we stick close together and watch each others backs." He glanced over his shoulder at Young, "Everett…I'm getting a bad vibe…something worse than an ambush is going to happen. I can just feel it."

ͼͽ

Sam paused from her feverish typing and yawned. Her jaws parted widely, her lips pulled back to reveal her white razor sharp teeth and her tongue curled upwards. She'd been going for two days without sleep now…without coffee. She'd done this many times before, but she always had a cup of coffee with her to help keep her going. Not only that, but by now she'd become used to Riverstone's body and from what she could tell, Viterosaurs needed to sleep very frequently.

She resumed her typing, setting up firewalls to block the hacking attempts of the stone connections. By now she'd noticed a pattern in the hacking attempts and could easily set up a firewall to prevent the process. But whatever it was that was attempting to hack the stones seemed to be quickly losing interest.

Very quickly, she pulled up the window monitoring the connections. Her connection reading had decreased by half since last time she checked almost an hour ago. She glanced down at McKay's connection.

There was no activity at all.

Her conversation with McKay came back to her and she looked up. "McKay?" she asked.

He was staring at the tablet in his hands with a glazed look in his eyes. His mouth was parted slightly and his head was propped up on his knuckles.

"McKay?" Sam asked again as she waved her hand in front of his face. When there was no reaction, she placed her hand on his shoulder.

Scott flinched as he sat up and looked around him in bewilderment. His eyes fell upon the Viterosaur that was looking at him with worry. "Gen? You're back too?"

Sam blinked and shook her head, "No. She's still not here yet…you back in one piece, Lt.?"

Scott glanced at the tablet in his hand, noticing that his stones connection was inactive, "I…I think so. Still feel like myself."

"And…Rodney's memories?"

He shook his head, "Gone."

Sam let out a sigh of relief, "Well, that confirms my hunch. As the hacking attempts decrease in effort, the memories we shared with the other fade." She looked up at Scott again, "Well? What's happened over there in the last week?"

"We stopped the attack. Lucian's took some heavy losses, we didn't take as many as them though." He paused as he thought back to the battle with the Three Kora. "No one at the SGC would be alive if it weren't for the Gen. She saved us all, even the Lucians."

Sam cocked her head to one side, "What do you mean? Did it get worse after I left?"

Scott nodded, "Yeah. You remember Varro talking about the Three Kora legend?"

The tuft of fur on the brow ridge over Sam's right eye rose up, "The legend is true, right?"

Scott nodded again in response, "Yeah. The Three Kora turned out to be the very first goa'uld to exist in the galaxy. The first queen and her two offspring, using Unas as their hosts. They put up a hell of a fight, Col. But Ronon, Teal'c, Col. Mitchell and the Gen. managed to take them down after a few hours of fighting."

"Well, at least we know everything is alright on that end. Let's just hope the same is true for us here on this end."

Scott furrowed his eyebrows, "What happened?"

Sam returned her focus to setting up another firewall to prevent another hacking attempt, "We've got a very dangerous type of AI on the ship apparently…an organic AI, to be exact. Attacked Terra, and now she and Greer are in comatose states, fighting off some kind of virus that's more than likely changing them into whatever the AI is…probably turning them into organic AI's." She glanced up at Scott, "Young took a group of men along with the android and Col. Addamo to go fight this thing."

Scott stood straight up, pushing his chair back with his knees, "They're fighting it now? Then I've got to go help them!" With that, he turned and ran out of the room.

"Lt., wait!" Sam called after him, but Scott did not hear her. She stood up to go to the door and call after him again but was immediately stopped by an unbearable headache.

She sat back down, hung her head down and held her head in her hands. She groaned from the discomfort. She glanced up at the laptop screen. Her connection had reduced drastically in that instant. The foreign memories were beginning to fade away quickly.

Sam knew it had to be linked to whatever was happening with Young and the Viterosaurs.

ͼͽ

Jack entered the infirmary as McKay jumped down from his bed. "Lt.," he said as he swung his arms once behind him and then in front of him, "how's the head now?"

McKay looked at Jack with confusion for a brief moment before realizing everyone thought he was still on Destiny, "Head's fine Gen. But I'm not Lt. Scott."

Jack cocked his head to one side, "McKay?" McKay nodded. "When'd you get back?"

"Just now, Gen."

"Ah. Well, it's about time you got back. Atlantis needs you over there ASAP. Something about that…big, spinning engine you found over there."

"The star drive engine?"

Jack nodded in response.

McKay looked passed Jack, "Well, they waited for me this long. They can wait another hour or two. I have to go check on the communication stones." And with that, he quickly left the infirmary.

Jack sighed and shook his after he watched McKay disappear around a corner. He turned and approached Riverstone, who was still sitting on the edge of her bed holding her head in her hands. "So…how's the head now?"

Riverstone let out a stifled groan of pain as she looked up at him, "Not any better. Actually just started getting worse…think I'm losing Carter's memories."

"That's a good thing…right?" Jack asked as he rocked back and forth on his heels and balls of his toes.

Riverstone nodded as she winced from the throbbing in her head, "Yeah, I guess. Though, I don't think I can get used to these headaches. Human physiology is very different from ours." She glanced down at her hand, curling each of her fingers one at a time. "I mean, you guys have five fingers and flat feet! Not only that, but although your blood is basic in pH levels it's much more acidic than our blood."

Jack nodded his head, "Wonder how Carter's adjusting to your body. Probably getting used to it by now, knowing her."

"Yeah," Riverstone responded. She fell silent for a moment, then a question that had been brewing since she gained Sam's memories came to her, "Jack…I know this might be a bit sensitive for you, but…did you really die when Apophis stopped you guys from ambushing him?"

Jack was silent for a few minutes as the long buried memory suddenly resurfaced. He sighed as he turned away from Riverstone, scuffing his heels against the floor as he took a few steps away from her. He dropped his eyes down to his feet.

"I'm sorry," Riverstone said as she watched him, "I shouldn't have asked."

Jack shook his head, "No, its alright, it's just…" He turned back to face Riverstone again, "Yeah, I did die. We all did, except for Teal'c. But the Nox brought us back to life."

Riverstone gave Jack a concerned look, "You're not telling me everything, Jack. Remember, I'm not human. I can tell when something's bothering you."

Jack took a deep breath and sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed in front of Riverstone. "I…I died first. And then I saw that bastard kill Carter and Jackson…I watched it happen, even though I was dead." He averted his eyes away from her, "I watched them die right in front of me…watched Apophis murder Carter."

Riverstone dropped her eyes to the floor, "You must have felt as if you'd lost everything…" She looked up at him, "Jack…I know how Carter felt when she watched you die. She thought she was seeing things when she saw you get hit, but when she realized it was really happening…" She looked away as Jack glanced up at her, furrowing her eyebrows and fighting back tears as the foreign traumatic memory brought a feeling of utter dread and loss. "She thought she'd lost everything…everything that ever meant anything to her," she said in a choked voice, looking back at him.

"I'm sorry," Riverstone said as she hopped off the bed and began to pace the length of the infirmary, "I shouldn't have brought the subject up. It's just that…" She turned on her heel and locked eyes with him, "Jack. Carter has some strong feelings for you. I'm pretty sure you do too. But it's time two did something about it. Sure, you might have a relationship with each other…but this kind of relationship isn't going to help either of you." She looked away, a look of guilt in her eyes, "Don't do the same thing I did, because you never know when the day will come when she won't come back through that gate."

Jack watched her carefully, noting that Riverstone's own emotions were finally being made known to him. "You lost someone, didn't you?"

"I almost did," Riverstone answered, "I almost lost my mate to Anubis. It was then that I realized fate can be unpredictable. You never know when the unexpected will happen. I realized that anything can happen at any time and that I won't have a second chance." She sighed, "You're lucky you did, but you won't be so lucky to get a third chance. Take my advice and do what I did. Take your relationship to the next step, because you don't know how long you have left to be with her or vice versa. You should talk with her when she gets back here."

They looked at one another for a few moments longer before Jack glanced to the side towards Dr. Lam, who had just walked into the infirmary. He nodded his head and played with his thumbs, "I'll keep your advice in mind."

ͼͽ

TJ tossed yet another hand towel into the bin of mucus soaked towels, which was quickly filling up. She was quickly running out of them and was unsure if she could keep up with the amount of mucus being produced from both Terra and Greer's skin pores.

_"There's not a lot of time left before we lose them entirely,"_ she thought to herself as she frantically grabbed another pair of hand towels and thrust them into a container of water, soaking them thoroughly. She wrung them out and went about wiping the thick accumulation of mucus from Terra and Greer's faces and bodies.

Wray and Dr. Park were there as well, aiding TJ in keeping Greer and Terra's skin clear of the mucus.

"You really sure that they're turning into this organic AI thing?" Wray asked as she wrung her towel of the mucus over the bin.

"There's no doubt about it," Dr. Park replied as she tossed her long black hair over her left shoulder. "They're producing the same substance that Greer described the creature being covered in. And they're also producing the smell of sulfur, just like the creature." She wiped her wet towel over Terra's nostrils and eyelids.

"I just hope that Col. Young can stop the AI soon," TJ said, running her towel over Greer's arm. "I don't think they have much time left."

Suddenly, both Terra and Greer began groaning loudly in pain. Terra's lips curled up and she snarled as she arched her back. Greer repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists and kicked his feet out as he grit his teeth. Both of them began to hyperventilate.

TJ helped Wray restrain Greer's legs as Dr. Park pushed Terra's belly down and her back down onto the bed again.

Wray reached for her radio, which sat on the edge of Greer's bed. She spoke into it, "Col. Young, this is Wray. You need to hurry up! Sgt. Greer and Terra don't have much time left!"

ͼͽ

"Understood," Young replied into his radio. "Eli, how far do we have to go?"

"Not much farther Col.," Eli's voice responded. "You need to take the next right and then it'll be the second door on the left."

"Alright," said Young, "You heard him. Let's pick up the pace."

With that, Tarvock set off at a brisk pace, almost a jog, while keeping both hands on his Beretta and the pistol aimed directly ahead of him. Young and the five marines jogged to keep up with the android, while Varro and Addamo followed closely behind them.

They reached the third corridor on the right and turned into it. Tarvock's foot slid on the slick fleshy floor as he turned into the corridor, but he caught himself by placing one hand on the floor for support. As he stood up, one of the twisted creatures emerged out of the darkness as the lights from marines' flashlights illuminated the corridor. It let out a hideous squeal as it barreled straight at the android.

In an instant it crashed into his chest, causing him to slide back on his feet from the force of the impact, his claws gouging deep cuts into the fleshy floor. Tarvock reacted quickly by grasping it by its skinny neck and wrenching it away from him before it managed to latch itself onto him. But the creature had managed to swipe its left hand downwards, putting two gouges into Tarvock's right shoulder and down his ribcage.

The android let out a short muffled raptor-like shriek of pain as the creatures claws tore through his armored skin. He hissed loudly before crushing the creature's neck in his left hand. Sparks jumped from frayed wires and damaged electrical conduits in the wound in his right shoulder. His right arm fell limply by his side as he tossed the dead creature aside, the Beretta dropping out of his hand to the floor.

Suddenly, more creatures began rushing at them out of the darkness.

The five marines stepped passed the android and opened fire upon the monstrosities. Young also joined the marines in dropping the creatures as they rushed towards them.

For several minutes, the creatures continued to rush forward from the dark corridor. At least twenty of the creatures had fallen dead at the feet of the marines before Tarvock bent down and picked up his Beretta in his left hand.

Then he stepped passed Young and the marines, towards the creatures. "We need to keep pushing forward!" he shouted back over the noise of the gunfire. With calculated movements, he tracked the creatures as they rushed towards him, firing once at each creature that came close to him. Each of those creatures dropped to the ground, dead from a bullet to the head. "We can't let them stall us!" he shouted again, ducking as one creature lunged for his head with its teeth gnashing. As the creature passed over him, he pointed his pistol up and put a bullet through the bottom of its jaw.

Everyone else cautiously followed behind him, dropping any creatures that managed to jump passed the android.

They pushed forward through the darkness and the twisted creatures for several minutes, passing the first door on the left before quickly reaching the second door on the left.

A creature dropped from the ceiling on Tarvock's head as he was about to press the button to open the door. He stepped away from the door as he reached up with his left hand, grasping at the creature that had just sunk its teeth into the right side of his neck.

Young stepped forward and pressed the button on the door controls just as Tarvock wrenched the creature off of him, slammed it into the ground and stomped down on its head with one foot.

The door opened.

ͼͽ

She slid to a halt in front of the door, panting heavily. She'd reached her destination.

Terra glanced to her left, back down the corridor she'd just raced down. The high-pitched squeals of the creatures were becoming louder as they drew closer to her.

She turned back to the door and noticed that the door controls were enabled. She slammed the palm of her hand against the large green button and the locking mechanism on the door began turning.

Again, she glanced to her left; the creatures were almost upon her.

The doors opened and Terra hurried inside, slamming her palm on the red button to close the door. Just as the doors began to close, one of the creatures jumped through the narrowing gap, lunging at her.

Terra leaned back to avoid its swinging claws and fell upon her back. She quickly got to her feet, drawing her knife from its sheath and holding it so the flat edge of the blade was adjacent to her right forearm. She curled her upper lip into a silent snarl.

The doors locked shut behind her and dull lights in the room flickered to life.

The creature turned on all fours to face her. It let out a soft low growl and gnashed its teeth together.

Just as it prepared to lunge at her, something shot forth from the darkness behind it and plunged into its back, emerging through its chest cavity with a sickening splat.

Terra flinched as small drops of cold liquid splattered onto her face and muzzle.

The creature's lower jaw dropped open and it began gurgling. Black liquid dripped from its mouth as it was lifted off the ground.

Terra saw the object protruding from its chest. It was the spear tipped end of a plated tail…covered with a layer of reddish-brown mucus.

A triangular head emerged from the darkness behind the now airborne creature. "We meet at last…Terra'sha'ri," the monster of her nightmares said in its guttural demonic voice.

"What are you?!" Terra asked with a snarl, feigning anger. "What do you want from me?!"

The monsters tail jerked to the side, flinging the now dead creature off its tail and into a tendril covered wall. "I am the embodiment of the Tojeq race, an organic AI. I am their god." It chuckled, "It is not that I want something from you, dear Terra'sha'ri," the monster said as it took a step closer to Terra. "It is your body, your mind and your soul that I want. I desire _you!_"

"Why?!" Terra demanded. "Why do you want me?"

"You are the key," the monster answered, taking another step closer to her. "You are the key to _my_ ascension! You hold the key that will unleash my power upon this universe!"

"What key?" she asked, confused as to what the monster meant.

The AI chuckled loudly, "You possess the greatest amount of knowledge on the artifact in the background noise of the universe. You have a greater understanding of it than the humans' currently scurrying about this ship."

Terra's eyes widened, "What?" She stared in disbelief at the monster. "The humans' are in stasis!"

The AI threw its head back as it let out a demonic laugh, "Oh dear Terra'sha'ri. The last twenty-five years you have lived here have been nothing but an illusion I created!"

Terra shook her head, still in a state of utter disbelief, "No…"

"Oh yes," the AI said, taking another step forward, "you have been living a dream for these twenty-five years. There is nothing real about any of this at all. Do you think that is air you are breathing?"

"_No!_"

Terra lunged at the AI, swinging her right arm outwards in an attempt to slash the monster with her knife. It chuckled as its tail made contact with her side, knocking her off her feet.

"Why do you think you are unable to remember how you received that scar on your neck?" the AI asked as it loomed over her. "You cannot remember because I have altered your memory within this dream, deleted our little scuffle that occurred only twenty-five hours ago! But none of this will matter, for you and I will be one within five minutes."

"You lie!" Terra bellowed as she pushed up off the floor with her hands and kicked her feet up towards the AI. Her right foot made contact with its chest at the base of its neck and just between its arms.

The AI growled as it skid backwards on its feet from the force of the kick.

Terra jumped to her feet and charged at the AI.

ͼͽ

Young jumped back as the AI's upper forearm snapped open and swung forward towards him. He shot a burst of bullets at it before ducking around the strange console near the door of the room, but the bullets passed harmlessly through the creature as its body opened around the projectiles. He glanced to his left, where he glimpsed the bodies of two of the marines again, which the AI had killed instantly upon entering the room. He cursed under his breath.

Varro jumped out from around the console, his knife in hand, and charged at the AI. But the AI was one step ahead of him, lowering its head down and forcing the flat top of its head towards him. He had no time to react and its head slammed into his chest like a wall, stopping him dead in his tracks and knocking the wind out of him. He fell down to the floor on his back, dazed from the impact.

The AI stepped over him and lifted one raptor-like foot over his head. However, Tarvock barreled into the AI's side with his left shoulder, his right arm limply following behind him. The force of the impact carried it several feet before it caught its footing and slowed Tarvock down. The blade of a sword sprung out of Tarvock's left forearm on a hinge. He swung his arm upwards towards the AI's belly but the AI countered with its tail, pushing his arm away so that the sword passed harmlessly by.

The end of its tail curved back like a snake so the tip of it pointed up towards the androids chest. It shot forward at him. He leaned back in time to avoid being speared by the tail, but the sharp tip grazed the right side of his muzzle. Tarvock's armored skin was sheared off within the short amount of time of contact.

He staggered away from the AI and reached up with his left hand to feel the new wound. A two inch wide patch of skin was missing from the middle of his muzzle, starting from the edge of his lower jaw, up his lips and ending up near the edge of his snout. His lips had also been sheared cleanly off, exposing two inches of his gums and teeth.

"Tarvock, move!" Addamo shouted across the room from where the AI had tossed him.

The android looked up, just as the AI wiped its tail sideways at his side. He jumped up to avoid it, turning his body so that he was parallel with the floor as the tail passed beneath him. At the same time, he threw his left arm up over his head in an arc as he twisted in the air. The end of his sword managed to slice through a good number of the large thin spines lining its back, severing them completely from the AI's body.

His feet landed on the fleshy floor with a thud just as six of the severed spines landed. Then, the tail immediately doubled back at him, sweeping Tarvock off his feet as it struck him in his right side. He flew through the air for several feet before crashing into the wall.

Two of the three remaining marines popped up from behind the console, firing their rifles. The third marine jumped from behind the console and grabbed Varro, dragging him back behind the console.

The two marines ducked behind cover again.

"Col.," one marine exclaimed, "we can't do anything to it!"

Young glanced down at the dazed Varro and noted the knife in his hand. That's when he realized it, "It can predict the trajectory and timing of our bullets." He glanced up to see Tarvock staggering to his feet, his right arm dangling limply at his side. "It can't predict hand-to-hand combat. We need to get up close and personal with this thing."

"But I thought you said to keep our distance from this thing," another marine said.

Tarvock rushed forward again.

"I know, but we have no choice." Young threw his rifle to the side and pulled his knife free from its sheath. He jumped to his feet and stepped from behind his cover.

At the same time, Addamo appeared above the AI, Tarvock's pistol in one hand and knife in his other. He landed upon the back of the AI chest first. His legs dangled down the AI's left side while he wrapped his right arm around its neck. He buried his knife up to the hilt into the AI's side. He raised the pistol up and aimed at the AI's head.

However, just as he was about to pull the trigger, the AI growled and the freshly severed spines on its back grew almost instantaneously. Addamo's neck became wedged between two small spines while a larger spine sprouted up through his right shoulder, just beneath his collar bone and out his back just above his shoulder blade. Blood dripped down the length of the spine and soaked into Addamo's uniform and fur.

Both Tarvock and Young froze upon seeing the spine emerge from Addamo's back.

The sudden pain caused him to drop the pistol. His jaws parted and he roared in pain. Light from the star heart disappeared beneath his chest. But his cry of pain lasted only for a few seconds before his eyes rolled up and his head dropped down, his bottom jaw hitting the mucus coated plates on the AI's back with a dull thud. His body hung limply against the AI's side, held up only by the spikes his neck was wedged between and the spine speared through his shoulder. His feet and tail dangled in the air about a foot off the floor.

The AI let out a guttural laugh as it felt Addamo go limp against its body.

"Col.!" Tarvock exclaimed as he charged forward.

Young charged forward as well.

The AI lashed its tail out at the android, hitting him square in the belly and sending him backwards several feet through the air. Then its tail whipped towards Young.

But Young stooped down as he rushed forward. The tail missed the top of his head by mere inches.

The AI turned upon him, and thrust its head down at Young. As Young's forward momentum carried him back up, the flat top of the AI's head smashed into his face. Young clutched his face as he fell to the floor.

Tarvock shouted at the three marines, just as Varro sat up, "What are you three sitting around for?! You heard him; close quarters!"

He staggered to his feet again and rushed forward once more.

Varro looked to the three marines, who sat behind the console, seemingly too afraid to move. He got to his feet, grabbed one of the marines by his vest and hoisted him to his feet. He pulled the man's knife out of its sheath and forcefully placed it in his hand, "I shouldn't have to show you how to use a knife. You're a soldier, so start acting like one and help us fight this thing!"

With that, he stooped down to pick up his own knife and charged towards the AI.

ͼͽ

"TJ!" Dr. Park shouted.

She spun around to see Dr. Park attempting to hold Terra down as the Petrus'iri began to convulse uncontrollably.

"It's happening again," TJ said as she hurried over. "Get as many of the towels as wet as you can," she said to Wray.

"What's happening to her?" Dr. Park asked, looking down at Terra with worry.

"Her Dem'iwi'c Disease is acting up again," TJ answered.

ͼͽ

Terra cried out in pain as the AI slashed her belly with the tip of its tail. She staggered away from it and clutched at the fresh wound as blood began oozing from it. By now, she had accumulated a number of cuts and slashes all over her body.

The AI chuckled, "My original intention was to become the new occupant of the body of the female Viterosaur so that I may wreak havoc upon the human vessel," it said as it advanced upon her. She backed away from it, "But during our little scuffle, I became aware that you had a deeper understand of the 'artifact' in the background noise than the one who calls himself Rush."

Terra's foot hit the console.

"Just like in the alternate universe you and I witnessed in your nightmare," the AI continued as it advanced towards her, "you will become one with me, and I shall become the supreme god of this universe!" It chuckled as it stopped to loom over her, "Now, it is time." It raised one of its arms up and snapped its upper forearm open, exposing the sharp spines towards Terra, "Your soul, mind and body are mine!"

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Terra's head, starting from the back of her skull and all the way to the back of her eyes. As she reached up to clutch her head, the AI began to convulse. Her legs started to shake and it became difficult for her to keep her balance. She knew exactly what was happening to her. As if it were programmed to plague her for one night for the last twenty-five years, her Dem'iwi'c Disease had begun acting up.

She collapsed to the floor on her knees and dropped her knife, still holding her head in her hands. She fought to keep herself from arching her back from the pain of her convulsions, as that was when the pain was greatest. She shut her eyes tightly.

Then she heard the AI screech in pain. Her eyes shot open to see the AI staggering about. It threw its head back and bellowed in pain. That's when Terra realized what was happening; she'd been asleep every time her Dem'iwi'c struck. If she was connected with the monster, then it must certainly be suffering the effects of her disease now that she was awake for this episode of her Dem'iwi'c. The opportunity to finally end the cause of her nightmares had just presented itself, but at the wrong time.

_"I…have to…kill it,"_ she thought to herself as she grasped her knife again and slowly got to her feet. Despite her convulsions and shaky legs, she managed to stand up and begin to stagger towards the AI.

However, as she staggered towards it, images flashed before her eyes.

She stood in the infirmary looking down upon herself and Greer, both covered with layers of thick reddish-brown mucus. TJ, Dr. Park and Wray seemed frozen in time as they appeared to be rushing to throw wet towels over Terra's body while holding her down as she convulsed.

She took another difficult step towards the convulsing AI.

She stood in the infirmary again, but this time looking down into a glass container. There, three Petrus'iri infants lay huddled next to one another, seemingly sound asleep.

Another step closer and she staggered, almost falling but caught herself.

She stood over Col. Young, who lay on the ground with his knife held in his hand by the blade. His arm was thrown over his head, seemingly as if he were about to throw the knife. Blood ran from both his nostrils.

A step closer and the AI screeched again in pain.

Three human marines, Tarvock and Varro were frozen in time as they rushed towards what Young was preparing to throw the knife at; the Tojeq organic AI.

Terra closed the distance between her and the AI with a sure-footed step forward, just as it tossed its head up and let out a guttural roar of pain.

She saw the AI, turning towards Tarvock, Varro and the three marines with its tail raised in preparation to knock them all away at once. She could see the limp form of Addamo hanging off the floor on the AI's back, a spine pierced through his right shoulder. His dangling feet and tail had swayed up from the momentum of the AI spinning around to face its charging enemies.

One more step forward and she stopped. The AI staggered, almost collapsing to the floor as it convulsed. It slowly turned to face her before collapsing to the floor at her feet.

Terra stood up straight, no longer hindered by her convulsions. She stared down at the AI, her emotions running rampant. She feared the AI, but at the same time hated it for having haunted her and leaving her in constant fear of her nightmares. She pitied the AI as well, but only for a short moment as it was quickly replaced with anger. She was angry at the AI for having her endure twenty-five years of nightmares and horrible visions…angry at it for having deceived her all that time. From the visions she had just witnessed, Terra realized she'd been living a dream all along.

The AI looked up at her as its back arched from another convulsion.

Terra looked at in disgust, "I can only hate you for what you have done to me." Her expression softened, "But I must thank you for allowing me to watch my children grow."

The AI only managed to let out a weak moan of pain.

"But now that I know this is only a dream," she said as she grabbed the AI by the top of its head, "it is time for me to return to reality." She pushed up on the AI's head so that she could glare down directly into its unblinking black faceted eyes, "You called me here today to take over my body…but I have taken over yours, so it seems."

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and the Viterosaur's stepped in. Tarvock staggered forward. His left arm was missing. "By the Ancients…it's real."

Addamo stepped passed him, "Terra, you okay?" Blood soaked the left side of his neck from where a creature had bitten him. He kept his rifle trained on the AI, "You managed to take it down by yourself?"

Christian and Riverstone entered the room next. Riverstone had one arm over Christian's shoulders, who supported her as she limped on her right leg. A creature had managed to cripple the female Viterosaur with a large wound to her upper leg.

"Terra," Tarvock said. "What's wrong?"

Tears ran down over her scales as she sniffed. Her eyes went from each Viterosaur, "You have all been my friends…no, my family for a very long time. And I thank you for that. I will miss all of you," she said as she looked back down at the AI, "but I promise you that I will think of you all when I return to reality…I will never forget you all."

With that, her grip on the handle of her knife tightened as she raised it high over her head. "It is time I awaken!" she shouted as she brought the blade of the knife down upon the AI's head, sinking it in up to the hilt.

No sooner had the knife embedded into the AI's head, Terra felt the sensation of being yanked forward off her feet, almost as if she were being sucked into the vacuum of space.

ͼͽ

"She stopped convulsing," Dr. Park said just as Wray threw the last wet towel over Terra's belly. "Is it usually that short?"

TJ shook her head as she held onto one of Terra's arms, "No. It's usually for five minutes."

"Well, maybe it has something to do with-" Wray began, but her sentence was cut short when Terra snarled and her eyes shot open.

And then, her body seemed to atomize into small particles and vanish into a single small point above the bed.

There was silence in the infirmary for a moment. Then Dr. Park spoke, "Did anyone else just see that?"

ͼͽ

Varro, Tarvock and two of the marines all jumped back to dodge the AI's tail, but the third marine received a slash across his chest.

Young threw his arm forward and released his hold on the blade of his knife. The knife sailed through the air, turning end over end a few times before sinking in between two of the AI's plates. The AI snarled in pain and whirled around on Young. Its sideways momentum caused Addamo's limp legs and tail to sway away from its body before swaying back towards it. The AI began to advance towards Young, its feet falling heavily on the fleshy floor.

"Col.!" The injured marine shouted and sprinted towards the AI.

As the AI took one last step forward to stand over him, it parted its mandibles and roared down at him. Saliva was flung from its jaws and splattered onto Young's face and uniform. Then it lunged with its mandibles bearing down on his head.

Suddenly, Terra appeared out of thin air beside Young. In the blink of an eye, she thrust her right arm upwards with her hand open and her fingers pointed straight. Her hand entered the AI's gaping maw. Her upper arm disappeared in its maw up to her elbow before her hand pierced through the back of the AI's head.

The AI froze and Addamo's legs swayed forward and backward a few times.

The room fell silent as all eyes fell upon the Petrus'iri that had somehow appeared out of nowhere.

Terra looked up and glared into one of its black faceted eyes. "You will never have me…or my comrades." She wrenched her arm free from its mouth and stepped to the side as it collapsed in front of Young, "Nor will you ever become the god you claim to be."

The AI's tail and forearms twitched a few times before it fell still. A long guttural gurgle escaped its jaws. And then it fell silent.

No one moved as they stared at Terra in disbelief.

ͼͽ

Greer's eyes shot open and he gasped, startling Dr. Park and TJ.

ͼͽ

Riverstone paused from what she was doing. She blinked several times to make sure she was not hallucinating.

She looked down at her hands. _"I'm…back?"_ she thought to herself. She glanced up at the laptop screen; her communication stone was inactive.

ͼͽ

Rush's voice spoke from Young's radio, "Col. Young, this is Rush. Another life sign has just appeared in the room. Can you confirm this?"

Terra turned her head towards Young, who sat there panting as he stared at her. He was unable to speak.

"Col. Young?" Rush's voice spoke again from his radio.

"Are you not going to answer him, Col. Young?" Terra asked as she flicked her tail, causing mucus to shake loose and fall to the floor with a soft splat. She glanced down at her mucus covered hands and sighed, clenching her fists tightly. She closed her eyes as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, where mucus was absent, "It is over…the nightmare is finally over."

Å

End Chapter 11


	12. Mirrored Reflections

**5/25/15 Alright alright alright! Sorry for the MASSIVE delay in this chapter, readers. So much happened in the last two years. It...was a hell of a ride. But...now that I've graduated, I finally have the time I need to finally start working on my fanfictions again. Apart from being a lazy mf, there was just so much that went down after my hiatus that really killed my mood to continue working on ANY of my fanfics. It was not fun, especially considering that I practically left you all in the dark. But, I graduated last Thursday with a degree in English - Writing Option, and I'm finally free of the burdens and worries that weighed me down for the last five years. Hopefully, I can continue holding onto this spark of creativity of mine, and work not only on my fanfics to get them out to you guys, but to also work on the novel that I started writing as part of my Senior Writing Seminar final assignment(which actually was assigned from day one, and about the only assignment given to us). I've already got two chapters done, so hopefully this spark of creativity will help carry me through chapter three of my novel and so on. Anyways, again...sorry for the long delay readers. I hope with a lengthy 30 page chapter that the wait was worth it. I hope you guys enjoy the read!**

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><p>326/13

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><p>Stargate Universe: Infinite Ultimatum<p>

By: Filip Lesiczka

This story was written by and is copyrighted to Filip Lesiczka. Please do not reproduce or distribute without permission.

This story is no way affiliated with the Stargate franchise, SyFy, or anything else associated with Stargate and MGM. All characters and name's that appeared in the Stargate series belong to Stargate, I do not own them. This is a fan fiction. I do not own any copyright claims, no copyright infringement is intended. I own only those characters and name's whom I have added to the storyline. Again, all characters and name's that have appeared in the shows belong to the Stargate franchise, and all other affiliates.

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

Mirrored Reflections

The bridge was relatively quiet as he walked in. No one was present, giving him some satisfaction of the isolation from the rest of the crew. He came here often to escape any excitement that occurred onboard, such as searching for the supposed deadly organic AI only half an hour earlier. Escaping such excitement felt like a breath of fresh air for him, as it allowed him to focus on what mattered the most.

As he approached the command chair in the center of the bridge, there was a subtle, almost undetectable shift in the floor as the bridge began to rise from its protective hollow within the ship's hull. The door to the bridge closed behind him.

Rush lifted up a hand to shade his eyes for a moment as brilliant purple light flooded the whole of the bridge. Lowering his hand, Rush marveled at the anomalous star. Everything about the star did not make sense. It was already quite obvious that the star was not natural and that it was most definitely designed to be a class G star, just like the Sun. However, Rush still could not understand why…why was the star here? Why did it exist? What was the race who built this star and planet trying to tell them?

He stepped behind one of the chairs in front of the weapon systems controls, placed his hands on the back of the chair and sighed.

"It is as much of an enigma as the artifact noise, is it not?" asked a female voice from his left.

Rush glanced to his left. It was Gloria. Looking back out the bridge window, he slowly nodded his head, "An enigma that makes no sense. The artifact noise is clearly a deliberate message for us…but what are these artificial stars and planets for? A cookie crumb trail? If so…where does this trail lead to?"

Gloria crossed her arms over her chest, "The star has been here for quite some time, as the Petrus'iri people discovered it over one million years prior to us arriving here."

Rush nodded, "Aye, and the planet was not here at that time." He and Gloria glanced at one another, "Which leads me to believe that the planet is fairly new."

Gloria brushed her hair away from her left eye as she looked back at the star, "Perhaps not."

Rush raised an eyebrow as he glanced to his left once more, "Oh? Why's that?"

Gloria stepped beside him with her arms crossed beneath her breasts. She looked out the bridge window at the planet intently, almost as if she were studying its surface features very closely. "I scanned the planet several times to make sure…" She glanced to her right at Rush, "Nicholas, this is the same planet we encountered several years earlier."

Rush furrowed his eyebrows at that, "How can you be so sure?"

She looked back towards the planet, "For the very reason that I have detected the unmistakable traces of the crew's activity on the planet's surface when they lived there for a short time. My sensors indicate there are campfire remains that are several years old."

Rush turned his eyes to the planet as well, his curiosity growing with this information. "The same planet…remarkable. But what is it doing here? More importantly, how did it even get here…in a completely different galaxy?"

Gloria only shook her head in response, "That I cannot answer. I am as perplexed by it as you."

Rush sighed as he turned and approached the command chair before turning again and sitting back into the chair. "The same planet," he repeated as he leaned back in the chair. "And the only thing different is the strange signal emitting from the obelisk." He glanced at Gloria, "What can you tell me about the signal?"

Gloria did not immediately answer him. Instead, she gazed at the planet with a calm smile. However, as Rush studied her face, he could see within her eyes a look of…unease, almost as if something had unsettled her. This puzzled him greatly, for he hadn't even thought it was possible for an artificial intelligence to feel unease, much less human emotion.

"The signal is a rather…slow, evenly paced and…almost natural pattern," she finally said after a minute of silence. "It is most definitely originating from the obelisk. But the odd thing is…" She turned to face him, this time with a look that seemed as if she had finally discovered an answer to some cosmologically large question, "I recognize this pattern, Nicholas."

ͼͽ

TJ stood over the unconscious Addamo with a blunt headed hammer in her left hand. Addamo lay on his left side, the tip of the large spine protruding through his shoulder beneath his right collar bone. Addamo's back faced her, the inch thick and flat cut end of the spine protruding from above his shoulder blade somewhat. She then glanced up at Tarvock. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

Tarvock stood on the opposite side of the bed Addamo lay on, holding the unconscious Viterosaur up on his side with his only remaining functioning hand. He glanced up at her with a smile, "Don't worry, TJ. I'm pretty accurate with almost anything."

She nodded as she placed her right hand on Addamo's right shoulder to hold him up, then handed the hammer to the android. She looked back down at the unconscious Addamo, "Sorry if I sound a bit skeptical…it's just that…this could probably severely cripple him. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want that."

Tarvock chuckled as he reached up and accepted the hammer from her, "I admit, this is my first time performing such a crude operation on someone." He smirked as he looked over the blunt head of the hammer briefly, "But I should be able to do it. Still got one working arm with enough strength left. But don't worry, I'm sure the Col. will bounce back and heal up nicely. He's pretty tough."

She smiled again and took another deep breath putting both hands on the unconscious Viterosaur's shoulder to brace herself, "Right. Then I'm ready when you are."

As Tarvock carefully positioned the blunt face of the hammer on the tip of the spine and turned slightly to the side to ready himself, Riverstone sat on the bed behind TJ, looking on anxiously. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, interlocked her fingers in front of her snout and propped her chin on her thumbs.

Meanwhile, Young sat on a bed closer to the infirmary entrance, his right arm in a sling. He sighed as he shifted his arm in the sling while holding an ice pack to his head with his left hand, "I hadn't realized the damn thing actually got me with its tail until I threw the knife. I'm surprised it didn't sever my whole arm off, much less the entire bicep."

Wray stood in front of him, wiping away the last of the dried blood from under his right nostril with a damp cloth. Having finished, she took a step back and gave him a concerned look, "You're lucky the AI didn't hit you hard enough to give you a severe concussion, Col. Hell, you're lucky to even have a minor concussion."

Young managed a weak smirk, "I guess I've got a hard head."

Wray smiled and glanced down to the edge of the bed for a moment as she picked up a small oval-shaped cylinder with an opening on one end, raising it up to Young's neck beneath his left jaw, "It's a good thing the Novan's stocked us up with supplies before Destiny decided to jump." She pressed her thumb on one end of the small device, with the hole aimed at his neck, pressed that end against his skin and tapped the outward facing end of the oval with an index finger. Young winced as the device let out a brief hiss, as if a valve had been opened to release a small amount of pressure. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have your arm in that sling, or that ice pack on your head or even this to help you with your concussion."

Young lowered the ice pack from his head, "At least all of these supplies can help us." He glanced over Wray's head and indicated with his chin towards the unconscious Viterosaur, "But what do we have to help him?" He briefly glanced to his left towards the infirmary entrance just as Greer walked in, dressed down to his camouflage pants and tan t-shirt while drying off the back of his head with a towel; a small bandaid adorned his left cheek. Greer nodded towards Varro, who nodded back in return.

Wray glanced over her left shoulder for a few moments to look at Tarvock, who had begun precisely swinging the hammer and smacking the tip of the spine with the blunt face of the hammer. With each smack of the hammer, a dull and high pitched metallic ring rang out while TJ's body jolted slightly with the force of each of the android's swings. "I'm not sure," she replied. "The Novans are humans, our descendants, so much of the medical supplies are meant for humans and maybe Petrus'iri to use. I can't say if any of it would be compatible with them for sure, much less compatible with any reptile."

She turned back to look at Young again, furrowing her eyebrows slightly as she studied his face. She lowered her voice slightly, "Why? I thought you didn't trust them."

Young lifted the ice pack and pressed it up against the top of his forehead again. He held his gaze on her for a few moments longer before he shifted his eyes back towards the Viterosaurs and TJ. "I _didn't_," he replied.

"What's changed then?"

"They risked their lives to save our ship and crew from a potential threat." He breathed deeply and exhaled as he lowered the ice pack once more, "Total strangers to our universe…and they risked their lives for our sakes." He glanced at Wray again, "I have no more reason to be suspicious of them anymore."

Wray nodded, "Well, as long as you're not suspicious of them anymore, that's fine with me." She glanced over her shoulder, "The same goes for Terra?"

The Petrus'iri sat upon a bed closer to the clear plastic boxes of medical supplies lining the opposite wall. Many thick white towels were draped over the shivering Petrus'iri's shoulders to help keep her body temperature stable. She had extended her right arm out from beneath the towels and rested it upon the glass cover of the small compartment that contained her three newborn children. Meanwhile, Dr. Park rummaged around in one of the plastic boxes that she had pulled away from the wall.

Young watched the Petrus'iri for a few minutes. She smiled weakly as she gazed down into the compartment through the glass at her children. A tear formed in the corner of her left eye, rolled down the scales of her snout and fell down into the fibers of the top most towel that covered her.

"Yeah," Young said finally with a nod. "I never doubted her sincerity from the beginning, but she's proven herself as someone we can trust." Wray turned to face him again, her lips spread into a small smile, "Actually, she's proven to be more than just someone we can trust; she's a member of this crew…a member of this family."

ͼͽ

The corridor was dark, damp and cold. The marine stationed outside the door to the room turned his head to the left and shifted the UMP .45 he cradled upwards to flick the flashlight on. He aimed the light in the direction he looked, but the beam did not penetrate the darkness more than ten feet.

He glanced up to the ceiling above him, at the dim lights that barely illuminated the corridor. "Damn lights aren't doing what they were made for," he said to himself.

Then, he turned around to look into the open room, "Hey, Lt. You think those things are still crawling around out there?"

Scott was crouching in the center of the room, inspecting the slimy and rank corpse of the Tojeq organic AI. He pivoted on the balls of his feet on the fleshy floor to look over his shoulder at the marine. "I don't know Cpl.," he replied before turning again to look back down at the corpse of the AI, "But stay alert anyway. There's a chance they might still be around somewhere."

The marine turned back to face the corridor, "I just hope they all died with that big slimy thing. Don't want to take on one of those things again." He shivered slightly as he glanced to his right, "One set of snapping teeth in my face was enough for me."

Scott didn't respond to the marine. Instead, he took the butt of his G36K and sharply nudged the head of the AI, which by then had become stiff and did not move much from the nudge. He nodded, content and renewed with confidence that it was really dead.

He stood up and looked around the room. On the far side of the room, there was nothing but a wall of darkness; the fleshy floor, walls and ceiling seemed to merge with that black darkness. Then he glanced behind him.

A console stood near the door. For some reason, Scott was drawn to it. Something about it caught his curiosity. He had to inspect it more closely and so he stepped over to the console, the fleshy floor squishing beneath his boots. He stepped around it and studied the features on the console.

A large dial with a triangular protrusion in its center dominated the center of the console. Many strange symbols lined the outer edge of the dial on the console, almost as if to designate meaning to different channels. There were about seven different sized buttons and switches on the left side of that dial, with the largest of those buttons being white. On the other side of the dial was a single blue tinted button with a grate with horizontal slats just below it. Beneath that circular grate was a blank black screen, about the size of his hand.

Scott glanced back at the circular dial with the strange symbols lining its outer edge. He squinted at those symbols, wondering what they meant, what they designated. Something compelled him to turn the dial, to turn it at least so that the tip of the triangular protrusion pointed to one of the symbols.

He lifted his left hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers hesitantly. He knew he shouldn't touch anything until Rush had at least gotten a look at the room and the console. But the need to know what would happen if he turned the dial was overwhelming. He knew he would disobey protocol, but he had to know now.

Slowly, he reached out towards the dial and carefully placed his fingers on the curved surface of the dial. He drew a deep breath, closed his eyes…and turned the dial.

The sound of the dial clicking upon him turning it to the first symbol to the right reached his ears. He held his breath for a few minutes longer, expecting something to happen, something to go catastrophically wrong.

But nothing happened.

He opened his eyes and glanced down at the console as he released his breath. Nothing had changed…except for the black screen beneath the grate. The edges of the screen had become illuminated, revealing something within the blank space in the center; a handprint illuminated by blue light.

"Lt.?" the marine standing outside the door said, looking into the room. "You okay?"

"Huh?" Scott said as he glanced towards the marine.

"Sounded like you were going for a swim or something," the marine said with a subtle smirk. "Took one hell of a breath there; I bet even Rush heard it all the way on the other side of the ship." He chuckled.

Scott only shook his head as he turned his attention back down to the console before him. His eyes fell upon the illuminated handprint in the black screen. For some reason, he felt very uneasy about placing his hand in the screen. Yet at the same time, his curiosity was driving him to do it, to see what would happen if he did.

'What the hell is going on?' Scott thought to himself as his hand slowly reached out towards the handprint. 'What's wrong with me?' His mind raced as his hand moved closer to the handprint on the screen. Was he hallucinating? Was some unknown force controlling him? Or was this all the natural instinct of human curiosity? He struggled to stop moving his hand out, but curiosity overpowered him and before he knew it, he'd already placed his hand on the handprint.

Blue light radiated from beneath his palm for several seconds. Then, the light faded and silence fell in the room.

Nervously, Scott lifted his hand off the black screen. He sighed, relieved that there were no explosions rocking the ship somewhere in the distance.

Suddenly, the veil of darkness on the opposite side of the room lit up, startling him somewhat. But what startled him more was what he saw when he looked up towards the opposite wall.

It was his reflection in a mirror, as well as the rest of the room he stood in; the fleshy floor and walls, the corpse of the organic AI and the console. But something was off. He squinted at his reflection.

Young was squinting back at him, rather than his own reflection.

"What the hell?" Scott heard himself and the marine say at the same moment.

"Is that?" the marine asked as he stepped into the room. The marine's own reflection stepped into the mirror as well. He raised his left arm and waved; his reflection waved back in unison with him.

Scott raised his right arm as well and slowly waved; Young's reflection mimicked his movements at the same time. "Cpl., please tell me I'm not crazy. Is that the…Col.?" he asked, while Young's lips also moved in sync with his own. He glanced to his right at the marine; out of the corner of his eye, he could see Young's reflection also glancing at the marine's reflection.

The marine nodded slowly while staring in disbelief, as did his reflection, "You ain't crazy Lt. I see the Col. too. But…" He turned towards Scott, "This is a mirror…right?"

Scott was silent as he looked back and stared at Young's reflection. His eyes flicked down to the name patch on Young's uniform; it read Lt. Young. He shook his head, still unsure of what he was looking at, "I…don't know."

He reached up to the radio on his vest; as did Young's reflection. He spoke into the radio, "Col. Young, Dr. Rush, this is Lt. Scott. Do you read me?"

ͼͽ

Rush blinked and turned his gaze down to the radio in his hand. Then he gazed back up towards the purple star as he brought the radio up to his face. "This is Dr. Rush. What is it Lt.?"

Static crackled for a few seconds before Scott's reply responded from the radio, "Umm…I think you might want to come down here to the room at the front of the ship."

Rush drew a deep breath as he replied into the radio, "There'd have to be a significant reason for me to pause from my work and venture down there, Lt. Scott." He glanced down at one of the screens on the console surrounding the command chair as a soft signal sounded from it. He leaned forward and inspected what was displayed on the screen; two identical graphs had appeared that to him resembled cardiograph charts on a heart rate monitor.

Rush scratched his chin as he studied the graphs, which were constantly moving towards the left with peaks and valleys appearing on both of the moving lines of the charts, just like a cardiograph chart. He didn't understand what he was looking at, but he had the strange feeling he really was looking at two identical cardiograph charts.

Scott's voice crackled over the radio once more, "Yeah…it's something that's got us scratching our heads. We're not exactly sure what we're looking at right now…some kind…weird mirror or something."

Despite the strange charts that Destiny had just presented to him leaving him a bit stumped and very interested, the word 'mirror' caught his immediate attention. Still staring at the identical charts, Rush raised the radio back up to his face, "I'll be right down. Don't touch anything while I'm not there."

Young's voice also responded over the radio immediately after Rush had finished speaking, "I'm on my way down too."

ͼͽ

Rush looked his reflection up and down, with Young standing off to his left side behind him. He raised his right hand and scratched his chin, his reflection mimicking his movement in unison. There was nothing noticeably different about his reflection, or the reflection of the rest of the room behind him. Everything looked exactly the same, as if he were really looking at a mirror.

But there was only one notable difference. He glanced to his left, at what should have been Young's reflection.

Instead, Scott was standing in place of Young's reflection, with his right arm in a sling. The two stared at one another, greatly puzzled by what each was seeing. Young reached up and touched the patch on his chest that bore his name. The Scott he stared at mimicked his movement in unison.

Rush glanced to his right, at what should have been Scott's reflection standing beside the console towards the back of the room. Instead, Young was standing there.

"This is…beyond weird," the marine standing beside Scott said.

"Yeah, you can say that again," Scott replied with a slow nod of his head. The Young standing in Scott's place did the same.

"What are we looking at Rush?" Young said, with Scott's lips moving in unison with his own. "What kind of mirror is this?"

"It's not a mirror…not exactly," Rush answered after a moment, looking back at his own reflection.

"Then what the hell is it?" Scott asked from across the room.

Rush did not answer immediately. He glanced to his right, towards the bottom right edge of the illuminated reflection. The frame of the reflection appeared as if it were broken off at an angle. He stepped over towards that section of it, running his fingers along the ragged stony edge of the reflection. The section that appeared broken reached about a foot above his head.

"Rush?" said Young.

He paused for a moment, holding his hand on the stony edge of what appeared to be a mirror. Then, he smirked for a brief moment before turning to face Young. "It's the larger part of the Quantum Mirror Dr. Jackson encountered on P3R-233 fifteen years ago."

Young gave him a quizzical look, "You're talking about the device that transported Dr. Jackson to another reality?"

Rush nodded, "Precisely."

He and Young then glanced back at their counterparts. Silence fell in the room for a few moments.

"So," Young said, breaking the silence, "their reality is identical to ours…the only difference being…" He glanced over his shoulder at Scott as his voice trailed off.

"Lt. Scott is the commanding officer of the Destiny in their reality," Rush finished Young's sentence. "An interesting variation," he added, still studying his counterpart.

"Hey, I just got an idea," Scott said after a moment. He looked to the console and stepped behind it. He pointed to the large dial on the console, "When I turned this dial and put my hand on the scanner, the mirror turned on and they showed up."

Rush turned towards Scott. He stood there for a moment as he remembered something from what he had read of the incidents involving the quantum mirror. He quickly shot a glance back at his counterpart, then made his way over and stood on Scott's right. Young followed and stood on Scott's left.

"When I put my hand on the handprint," Scott said as he pointed towards the illuminated outline of a hand, "it…scanned my hand and the…mirror turned on. Though, first I turned the dial beforehand."

Rush reached his left hand out and took hold of the dial.

"You sure about this Rush?" Young asked, glancing sideways at him.

"If nothing happened when Lt. Scott activated it," Rush replied while looking dead ahead of him into the eyes of his counterpart, "then I'm fairly sure nothing will happen aside from the mirror connecting another mirror in a different reality." With that, he turned the dial clockwise several degrees.

All eyes turned up to the mirror. It was the same room once again, but this time with quite a noticeable difference.

"Is that-?" Young began to ask as he grew concerned about what he was looking at.

"Why're they there?" Scott asked as he gripped his UMP tightly.

Rush stared at the mirror, quite intrigued by what he was looking at. "Perhaps…in their reality, humanity fell to the Ori."

The woman behind the console stared back at Rush curiously. She wore an elaborate red dress, the high collar seemingly wrapped in shimmering flames. On either side of her, two pale skinned men stood staring curiously as well. The man on her left was garbed in grey robes and held a gnarled staff with a glowing gem at the head of the staff. The other on her right wore dazzling golden scaled armor and held a thin staff with a two-pronged fork at the head of the staff.

Adria smiled deviously as she pointed at Rush and barked at the man on her right, who immediately stepped away from the console and pointed the end of his staff in their direction as he quickly advanced towards them.

"Rush!" Young barked as the head of the golden armored man's staff weapon began to glow.

His heart fluttered for a moment before he twisted his wrist, turning the dial several more degrees clockwise.

The mirror's surface turned black. Nothing appeared after several seconds.

Rush and Young glanced at one another for a brief moment. "Nothing's happening," Young stated as he looked down at the console.

"I'm aware of that," Rush said, turning his attention back to the mirror. "It's very ancient technology. Perhaps I-"

Young glanced up at him when he stopped his sentence short. There was a trace of confusion in Rush's eyes behind those glasses of his. Young turned his gaze at what Rush was staring at.

A dark grey-brown object floated past the mirror.

"What the hell was that?" Scott asked as he stepped from behind the console and took a few steps closer to the mirror.

"Lt.," Rush said as another, much larger dark grey-brown object floated by, this time much more slowly, "whatever you do, don't touch the mirror. If you do…there's no way for us to help you once you're in the vacuum of space."

Scott froze and glanced over his left shoulder, giving him a confused look. Rush indicated towards the mirror with his chin, prompting Scott to look back.

A massive object slid into view from behind the mirrors frame in, illuminated by a light source from somewhere behind the mirror.

"Oh my g-…" the marine standing at the door said, but cut his sentence short.

Her neck and nose were missing, perhaps blown away from explosions that might have ripped through her. The left wing was also blown away, slowly rotating at an angle just above and behind the rest of the hull. A small part of the pyramids top was missing as well, likely blown to bits. All over her hull, dark scars, pits and torn hull plating dotted her entire body.

Destiny floated aimlessly among an extensive debris field at an eschew angle. There was not much left of the majestic ship, only the last third of the back of the ship and the right wing.

The room fell into utter silence as all eyes could only watch the slowly rotating corpse of what was left of the Destiny. Then, as quickly as it came into view, the shattered Destiny slipped behind the frame of the left side of the mirror, which was rotating itself.

"I…hope that's not going to happen to us," the marine said after a moment, breaking the silence.

Rush sighed as he looked down at the console, then reached his left hand up and rubbed his temple. "I doubt very much it will happen," he responded. "That was the star system where we were ambushed by the drones in the previous galaxy." He glanced at Young and shook his head, "We were lucky enough to escape when we did."

Young looked away, sighing quietly, "We were…but not so lucky in that reality."

"This is depressing," the marine at the door stated. "Hey doc, how many of these realities you think this thing can dial?"

Rush stayed quiet for a long moment as he studied the various controls on the console. His eyes fell upon the illuminated palm outline. He thought it extremely odd for the Ancients to have equipped the console with a hand scanner in order to dial other realities, while the smaller Quantum Mirror required nothing more than just the hand held dialing device. Yet this larger portion of the Quantum Mirror had all manner of controls.

That's when it finally hit him. He turned to Young, who gave him a questioning look. "I think we may have just found a way of returning the Viterosaur's back to their home reality."

Young raised his eye brows before looking back at the mirror, "With this? But how would we know how to dial their specific universe?"

Rush smirked and pointed to the illuminated palm outline, "Simple. We need only a hand print."

ͼͽ

Terra shivered a bit as Dr. Park tossed another of the thick white towels over the Petrus'iri's shoulders. The two smiled at one another before Terra turned her deep ocean blue gaze up towards TJ and Tarvock. The android was still smacking the blunt hammer against the tip of the spine protruding from Addamo's back. Each swing of the hammer brought forth a distinct, high-pitched metallic ring upon contact with the spine. Riverstone had left the infirmary no more than five minutes prior after Rush had called her on the radio.

"Yes!" TJ exclaimed as she braced herself better, her face lighting up with relief. "There we go, it's coming loose!"

Tarvock paused from his swinging, his jaws parted somewhat and panting ever so slightly. He gripped the hammer tighter as he glanced up at TJ, "Hold on to him. I'm going to put a bit more force into it now." She nodded in response and the android reassumed his position, bringing the blunt edge of the hammer on the tip of the spear. He remained still for several seconds before drawing his arm back…and swung.

There was an audible sound of a wet 'pop' as the spine popped free from the unconscious Viterosaur's shoulder and launched towards TJ. The flat end of the spine bounced off the chest of her uniform before dropping down and clattering to the floor with a dull metallic ring, with small droplets of blood splattering an inch or two across the floor.  
>Terra looked away from the sight. No sooner had she seen that golf ball sized, now open dark red hole in Addamo's shoulder did she suddenly have an uncomfortable feeling in her belly. She closed her eyes as she reached her hand up to place it over her mouth, fighting the urge to vomit.<p>

"You okay?" came a soft voice in front of her. Terra opened her eyes to see the worried look on Dr. Parks face.

Terra sighed and swallowed before she slowly nodded her head, "Yes, I am fine. Thank you…I just…have a hard time dealing with the sigh of large open wounds." Dr. Park nodded in response, smiling softly just as Terra turned her head to her right to peer down at the glass compartment standing beside the bed. A gentle smile formed on Terra's snout.

"So…you said you lived alone with the Viterosaur's on Destiny for…twenty-five years?"

The corners of her scaly lips turned into a slight frown as the question brought with it her memories. "Yes…twenty-five years that were…so real…as real as you and I are here now in the infirmary." Her eyes closed and she fell silent. The memories…they were real. She couldn't deny the fact that she had definitely felt like she really had lived through those twenty-five years. But at the same time, logic dictated to her that all those years spent on the Destiny were nothing more than an illusion. "Twenty-five years of being a family, twenty-five years of raising our children."

A sigh escaped her while she reminisced about everything she'd lived through in that dream, "Two months from now, we gated onto a lush tropical world, a hothouse planet. The food was edible, and there were viable medicinal herbs that we could gather. The water wasn't the cleanest, but we devised a means of purifying it." She shook her head as she reached a hand up to lightly brush her thumb over her nostril openings. "But we overlooked the water in the fruits that we brought back." Dr. Park furrowed her eyebrows at that. "And within a week of us leaving that world…Eli was the first to show signs of illness. Nausea, vomiting, bloodshot eyes, loss of appetite, unable to sleep for more than several hours…those were just the beginning symptoms."

"Several days later, it was Dr. Rush who fell ill. By then, Eli had grown worse; bloody nose, blood escaping from his tear ducts and his ears…and then he went blind."

"Blind?" Dr. Park asked, a bit confused by that symptom.

Terra slowly nodded her head, "Yes…a direct result of his bloodshot eyes. His retinal veins ruptured, and soon many of the blood vessels in his eyes burst afterwards. He even suffered subconjunctival hemorrhages." She shivered for a moment, pulling the towels tightly around her body, "Before long, he was bleeding profusely from his eyes. He…he…" She averted her gaze to the floor once more, falling silent for several minutes. She struggled to fight back her tears, swallowing before sniffling quietly. "He died two weeks after his first symptoms. Dr. Rush passed away three days later. We were at a loss for what to do, especially after all the crew members began to fall ill, including the replicators…well, everyone except me and the Viterosaurs."

She looked towards TJ, who was busying herself with patching the unconscious Addamo up, wrapping him in bandages after cleaning out his wound as best as she could. "Lt. Johansen passed away a week after Dr. Rush…Chloe the next day, and Col. Young the day after that. All because of a simple microbe."

Dr. Park frowned as she averted her gaze, "I'm sorry…"

Terra shook her head, "No. It's quite alright. We did not lose anyone else after Col. Young, for we put everyone in stasis afterwards. Thus…it was only me, Col. Addamo, Tarvock, Eli's counterpart, and Gen. Riverstone left to continue Destiny's mission. I made it my duty to discovering a cure, a way of eradicating the microbe…to save our crewmates." She turned her head to look back at Dr. Park, "I gave birth to my children only a month after we put the crew in stasis. A boy, and two girls. Ten months later Gen. Riverstone gave birth as well to a boy. We'd all become a family by then…and before I knew it, twenty-five years had gone by."

Her expression saddened as she again averted her deep blue gaze to the floor, "But it was all an illusion. Just a dream."

Dr. Park listened to her words intently, watching Terra's face carefully. She shook her head at Terra's last words, "Maybe it was a dream, but that doesn't mean your memories aren't real, Terra." This prompted the Petrus'iri to look up at her. She smiled warmly, "All those years you spent living with the Viterosaur's, raising your children together and becoming a family…those are real memories, Terra. Don't throw away your memories of your children, of your family."

Terra sniffled quietly and looked away. Dr. Park reached forward and gently rubbed her hand up and down the towels where Terra's right arm was beneath them. "Hold onto your memories, Terra. Because family is about the only thing that keeps us together out here, and I'm sure you realized that yourself after all those years."

The Petrus'iri was silent for a minute, watching as TJ finished tying the last of a third roll of bandages around Addamo's right shoulder. Reaching her left hand out from underneath the towels, Terra wiped away a tear that had formed in the corner of her left eye. She returned her gaze to the woman before her, "Thank you, Dr. Park."

"Please, call me Lisa."

Terra sighed softly and smiled at her, "Very well, Lisa."

The two of them turned their attention towards the incubator at the foot of the bed. Silence fell between them for several minutes.

"What are you going to name them?" Dr. Park asked, glancing sideways at the Petrus'iri.

This prompted a smile from the Petrus'iri. Just by looking down into the compartment at the scaleless little infants, she could tell there were two girls and one boy. "I already named them…many years ago," she replied. "My two little girls are Mirr'en'ri and Fay'on'ri, and my little boy is Do'xran."

ͼͽ

Riverstone stared at the mirror while several dark grey-brown objects floated into view. Her ears swiveled upright upon seeing the shattered objects, and her tail flicked nervously above the floor behind her.

"You're telling me this is our ticket to going home?"

Young glanced at Rush, who nodded in turn while keeping his eyes firmly down at the tablet in his hand. "Aye, it is."

The female Viterosaur glanced briefly glanced down at the console before returning her gaze to the mirror, where the slow rotating husk of the derelict and broken Destiny was just beginning to come into view from the right side of the frame once more. "How can you be so damn sure, Rush? All I see is a debris field."

Rush smirked at that as he rested the tablet down on the console and pushed his glasses up onto his nose with an index finger. He pressed several buttons, flipping one of the switches and placed his hand on the scanner. A blue light pulsed beneath his hand for several seconds before fading, and the mirror went dark just as the dial returned to its starting position. "For the very reason that this part of the Quantum Mirror shows an individual's alternate realities."

He reached for the dial in the center of the console, and turned it one degree counterclockwise from its starting position. All eyes then turned towards the mirror as an image popped up.

A group of Petrus'iri looked up and stared back at them with a mixture of curiosity, wonder, and fear. The tallest of the Petrus'iri stepped closer towards them; it was Terra. She wore the same elegant long sleeved shirt she wore with the sleeves cut all the way up to the shoulders and her jeans with wide leg openings that she'd worn her first day on Destiny. Her deep blue gaze flicked from Riverstone to Rush, then to Young before coming to rest on Scott for several seconds. Her eyes fell back upon Rush and she seemed to study his features with curiosity.

"In the case of this particular alternate reality of mine," Rush said as he looked Terra directly in the eye, "the Petrus'iri are the ones who discover Destiny and its mission, not us."

"Which means we never met Terra in their reality," Scott said from beside Riverstone.

"Precisely," Rush replied with a nod. He gave a faint smile towards the curious Petrus'iri that was still scrutinizing him. Terra responded with a soft smile in return, her tail twitching behind her ever so slightly. With that, Rush turned the dial several degrees clockwise, and the mirror went dark for a moment before a rather gruesome sight greeted them.

The Tojeq organic AI had took several steps away from the mirror while its head turned back to look over past its left flank at them, as if it had been surprised by their appearance. But then it turned its body so that it faced them head on and cocked its head to one side. The entire time its mandibles were moving nonstop, while strands of saliva dripped continuously from between those mandibles.

"Rush," Young said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"I think now's a good time to change the channel, Rush," Riverstone stated just as the AI leaned its head back and parted its mandibles in a roar that was silent for them. It took a step forward, almost as if it were going to charge them, but cautiously reached one of its mantis-like arms towards them.

The mirror went dark upon Rush turning the dial back to its starting position. A sigh of relief could be heard coming from the marine closest to the door. Rush then turned to look up at the female Viterosaur.

She folded her arms across her chest and remained silent for a long moment. Her tail gently twitched side to side behind her while she seemed to contemplate what had just been presented to her. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, huffing loudly through her nostrils. "And you think we're just going to find our universe with no trouble? How do you even know our universe will even pop up? Hell, even a simple variation of ours?"

"_You_ _will_ find your universe, Gen.," Rush replied simply. "All this device needs, is your handprint."

"Sounds too good to be true, Rush," the female Viterosaur responded with a skeptical tone. She opened her eyes and turned her left eye down to look sideways at him, "You said this shows an individual's alternate realities, their mirrored reflections. I don't think an individual's home universe is an alternate reality."

"Perhaps," Rush said with a nod as he crossed his own arms across his chest, "but think of it this way. You are in our universe. Whatever this mirror shows you will most likely be variations of our universe with you in them. What's to say that it won't also show variations of your universe?" He smiled, "What's to say that your home universe will not be considered a variation of our universe? Nothing."

Riverstone was silent while she studied his face for a bit before turning her sea green gaze back towards the darkened mirror. "And all I need is my handprint?"

Rush nodded in response, "Aye. Then, it's simply a matter of…well, browsing through the 'channels.'"

The female Viterosaur drew another deep breath and huffed, her ears splaying out slightly while her tail flicked upwards. "I hope you're right about this, Rush. I hope you're right." She unfolded her arms and stepped to her left just as Rush moved aside for her. Her right hand clenched and unclenched at her side while she stared down at the dial and hand scanner on the console.

"This is by far the best chance we have of getting you home, Gen.," Young said from where he stood off to Rush's left. The female Viterosaur glanced sideways with her left eye at him. "You helped the SGC back on Earth and your men helped us here on Destiny. That's more than we could ever do for you. The least we can do is to help get you back home."

She gazed at him for a few seconds before she blinked and smirked at him. "Now that's the Everett I know," she said just as she lifted her right hand up and looked back down at the hand scanner. "Thanks."

With that, she placed her palm on the hand scanner. She inhaled deeply as the blue light pulsed beneath her palm. Reaching up with her left hand, she took hold of the dial between her clawed fingers and turned her sea green gaze up towards the mirror. She remained still for several moments, only her tail lightly swaying behind her.

Then…she turned the dial once clockwise.

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Brody yawned, covering his mouth with a hand before looking back down at his console. He leaned forward and rested his left cheek on the knuckles of his left hand. He blinked several times in an attempt to keep himself from dozing off. Coughing once and clearing his throat, he stared down at the data on his consoles screen.

It'd been nearly four days since the defeat of the organic AI, and there hadn't been much more activity than that.

Brody sighed as his eyelids slowly began to drift close.

Tarvock walked into the interface room at that moment, grumbling softly to himself as he held his right wrist in his left hand, twisting his right hand in a circular motion.

Brody's eyes shot open no sooner had he heard the android grumble. He sat up straight and inhaled deeply, rubbing at his eyes as he tried his best to wake himself up. He then looked towards the android, who walked passed him before turning around to stand behind a console just one over to Brody's left.

"Finally got your arm in working order, huh?" Brody asked, yawning again and stretching his arms up above his head.

The android nodded in response, "Thanks to Eli. Well…both Eli's actually. Now it's just a matter of letting my skin grow back."

Brody stared at the android before blinking at his words. "Wait…your skin can grow back? But I thought…"

Tarvock chuckled lightly at that, "You'd be amazed what the crews descendants were capable of inventing after two thousand years." The android shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, the Eli who me built may have originally built my skin out of titanium metal, but as the centuries came and went, technology only kept advancing, and I was continually being upgraded." The android turned his right eye towards Brody with a light smirk, "My heart, organs, blood vessels and arteries were…upgraded, so to speak. Same thing with my titanium alloy skin."

Tarvock angled his snout downwards and turned his yellow gaze down to the console screen before him. "The Tenaran's were able to invent metal alloys that regenerate themselves to their previous conditions and shapes after a certain amount of time. My original titanium skin was removed and replaced with this titanium alloy skin." A light smirk formed on his muzzle, "So, my skin can heal and regenerate back to its original condition…fur included…so long as there's a power source to stimulate the alloy to begin regrowing."

Brody slowly nodded his head at that, "Man…I think Destiny could sure use some of that for its hull." At that, he recalled what Scott had told him about what he saw after flipping through the various realities on the Quantum Mirror. "Speaking of which, how's the Gen.'s search going?"

Tarvock drew a deep breath as he flicked a switch and turned a dial to cycle through the data on his screen. He exhaled loudly through his nostrils, "She said she's seen more variations of this universe than of our own universe." He shook his head slowly at that, "The only time she was sure she saw a variation of our universe…she said she saw three marines standing next to her she didn't recognize…three marines with her last name on their uniforms." He turned his eyes up towards Brody. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say those were her children…" He frowned as he turned his gaze back down to his console, his expression saddening and his ears splaying out. "The same children she was never able to give life to."

Brody frowned as well as he too looked down at his console. "That's…" He didn't know what to say. Silence fell between the two of them for several minutes. He wasn't sure if there was anything to say to something like that.

Tarvock's tail flicked to one side as he straightened up and resumed scanning through the data on his screen. Suddenly, his ears pricked upright as a soft alarm sounded from his console. His yellow eyes narrowed as he leaned his head forward to get a better look at what had just appeared on his console screen.

Brody's eyes turned towards the android upon hearing the soft alarm as well. He furrowed his eyebrows as curiosity got the better of him, "What's wrong?"

Tarvock stood up straight as he leaned away from the console but kept his gaze on the screen. He seemed very hesitant about what he was seeing. The android parted his jaws slightly to speak, but no words came from him for a long moment. "I…I don't know why Destiny is showing me two cardiograph charts right now."

Brody arched a brow upwards at that and pushed away from his console, stepping over to stand on the androids right side and glancing down at the console screen. There were indeed two identical cardiographs on the screen. "Huh…interesting," he said as he leaned forward slightly. "Those are cardiograph charts alright."

The android nodded slowly in response, but was clearly unnerved by what he was seeing. "Exactly…my cardiograph charts."

Brody blinked several times before turning to look up at the android Viterosaur while still leaning forward slightly. "What do you mean…your cardiograph charts?"

Tarvock bit his lower lip while reaching his left hand up to place his hand over his heart. "That's my heartbeat we're looking at…but the real questions are…why is Destiny showing this to me? And why are there two charts?"

Brody turned his head to look back down at the screen, shrugging his shoulders in response. "Beats me."

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Terra reclined in her bed, her legs propped up and a tablet resting against her thighs while she cradled all three of her infants in her arms. Her shirt was parted wide enough around her neck and shoulders so that her infants would have access to her breasts. Taped to the right side of her neck and shoulder was an inch thick white gauze pad.

Her two daughters were latched onto both of her nipples, so she cradled Do'xran against her chest, a long and clear test tube filled with white liquid turned upwards at a slight angle. She held the test tube lightly while the infant held onto the end of the tube with both of his small hands. Fortunately, she had managed to find a small rubber cover to pull over the mouth of the test tube to make a makeshift milk bottle.

She simply could not take her eyes off her infant children. Despite the fact that they needed at least another month for their scales to grow in, Terra was not concerned. It was a common occurrence for Petrus'iri infants to be born a month earlier than expected. It would take a few more weeks before their scales began to grow in.

Tears rolled down the scales of her cheeks once more and she turned her head to her right and then to her left to wipe away the tears on her shoulders. She sniffled as the memories of her children in the dream came back to her.

She remembered what it was like to give birth to them; she remembered their first words only a year later. She remembered the way Do'xran pulled pranks on his sisters; she remembered Mirr'en'ri's determination to know everything there was to know about Destiny, its mission and the universe. And she remembered Fay'on'ri's desire to help find a cure for the microbe that had plagued the crew.

"To think that I am a grandmother now," came a soft-spoken voice from the foot of the bed.

Terra turned her deep blue gaze up at the Petrus'iri garbed in white standing at the foot of the bed. She smiled as another tear formed in her left eye and rolled down over the scales of her left cheek. "Yes. And you have Lt. Johansen to thank for saving them." Her eyes turned back down to the small infants in her arms as her mother stepped from around the bed and came to sit down on the edge of the bed beside Terra, "I don't know if they would have survived at all if she hadn't acted as quickly as she did."

Silence fell between the two of them while they both gazed down at the suckling infants. Neither of them spoke a word for several long minutes before Terra drew a shaky breath and sighed, "Their names are Fay'on'ri, Mirr'en'ri, and Do'xran."

Terra's mother smiled as she turned her hazel-green gaze to meet her daughters deep blue gaze. "Beautiful names for such beautiful children. Your father would most definitely be proud of you, Terra. I am proud of you." She turned her gaze back down to the children and reached a hand forward to gently caress the top of Do'xran's head. The small infant stirred slightly at the touch, but otherwise did not release his hold on the makeshift milk bottle. A light chuckle came from her mother, "I sense a confidence in you, Terra. A confidence I do not believe I have ever felt from you. A mother's confidence."

Terra smiled gently and she closed her eyes. She was silent for a moment as her memories of her children continued to flood her mind. "That's because…I've already lived the life of a mother already." Terra's mother gave her a quizzical look. "I've already raised these three once before…and I spent twenty-five years raising them."

Her mother turned her head to one side to look at her daughter with her right eye. "Twenty-five years?"

Terra nodded slowly as her smile spread upon her snout. She opened her eyes and gazed into her mother's right eye, "While I lay unconscious for those twenty-five hours, I was living in a dream for twenty-five years."

Her mother blinked before smiling and turning her gaze back down to the infants, "So that is where your confidence stems from. Well, at least now you have the proper mothering experience to rely on. It is time for you to be a better mother to your children than I ever was to you."

Terra frowned at that, her emotions fluctuating for a very brief moment. "Do not say that, Jex'va. You were more than any mother I could have ever asked for."

"How could I when I disappeared for half of your lifetime?"

Terra shook her head at that, "That is beside the point, Jex'va. You were an amazing mother. You introduced me to the mysteries and wonders of the universe, something I am truly grateful for. If it were not for you, I would not be where I am today. I would most likely have never survived the Jovorda." Carefully cradling all three infants in one arm, she reached her left hand out and lightly took hold of her mother by the chin and turning her head until they both looked one another in the eyes. "I am grateful, Jex'va. Your disappearance only helped my passion to unlock the mysteries of the universe to grow. You've helped me to come this far."

Terra's mother gazed into her daughters eyes for several long moments before she closed her eyes and smiled, "Thank you, my ouw'v. That means a great deal to me."

Terra nodded slowly at that. She drew a deep breath as she finally mustered the courage to ask the question she'd been wanting to ask her mother ever since she became aware of the fact that she was pregnant. "Jex'va…can you at least promise me one thing?" Her mother blinked at that before Terra continued, "Promise me that you will not hide yourself from their eyes?" She sniffled lightly while turning her gaze back down to the infants in her arms. "I would at least be at ease knowing that they'd have a chance at seeing their grandmother at least once in their lives."

Her mother closed her eyes and drew a deep breath before exhaling quietly. She was silent for a minute before she opened her eyes and looked at her daughter with a gentle smile. Terra could feel warmth radiating from her mother, the warmth of love. "I wish I could make a promise such as that, Terra. I truly wish I could…but it is a promise I am not entirely sure I may be able to one day fulfill. Perhaps…one day, I may. But whether I will be able to reveal myself to them, I cannot say for certain. It is…one of the difficulties of…well…"

"Being an ascended being?"

Her mother nodded softly at that, "Yes." The Petris'iri glanced over her left shoulder towards the wall at the opposite side of the room. Terra watched her mother's face for the several minutes that she was silent. Then, her mother turned to look back at her daughter, smiling softly before reaching her right hand forward and gently caressing Mirr'en'ri's head. "I'm sorry Terra, but I must go. I've overstayed my time."

Terra nodded in response and her mother stood up from the bed and headed directly for the wall on the opposite side of the room, the long flowing white gown cascading gracefully with each step she took. "One more thing, Jex'va."

The white garbed Petrus'iri stopped in front of the wall and glanced over her right shoulder at her daughter.

"There's no more reason for you to put me to sleep every time you visit." Terra chuckled lightly, "I'm smart enough to know that every time you visit me that it's not a dream. The dream I lived in for twenty-five years was an exception, but I know better now."

Her mother couldn't help but smirk at that. She closed her eyes and dipped her snout down in response, "Very well, my ouw'v. I shall keep that in mind." She turned her gaze back towards the wall and suddenly the room was filled with a warm white light the instant she vanished.

Terra opened her eyes and picked her head up off of her right shoulder, wincing slightly from the pain in her neck. Smiling widely, she glanced down at the infants in her arms just as Do'xran stirred lightly and attempted to push the makeshift milk bottle away from his small snout. The Petrus'iri boy groaned softly.

"Shhhh," Terra said as she guided the rubber of the makeshift milk bottle back into his mouth, "it's okay dear. Everything is alright." She leaned her head down and lightly kissed the Petrus'iri boy atop his head, holding the kiss for a few seconds as he returned to suckling from the makeshift milk bottle.

Terra lifted her snout away from the small boys head and turned her gaze out towards the window. There was a faint purple glow around the inner frame of the window, the glow from the bizarre purple star. She smiled, "Promise me you will watch over them as well, Jex'va."

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It'd been almost a week since she started searching, a weeks of seeing repetitive variations with only miniscule differences. She had only come across three realities she was sure were variations of her universe.

Seeing groups of Viterosaurs each time, her heart fluttered and raced with excitement…only to be disappointed soon after seeing that there were noticeable differences.

The first reality had clearly shown her standing with the three children she'd given birth to…the same three children who'd been stillborn in her universe. The second reality showed her, Addamo, Vitero-Eli, Vitero-Young and Vitero-Rush standing with the human counterparts of Young, Eli, Scott and Chloe.

And the third reality showed her, Terra, Vitero-Eli, and Vitero-Rush suspended in the center of the dimly lit room, arms and legs bound by fleshy tendrils extending from the floor and ceiling. That was when the gruesome horror that was the organic AI stepped into view. It peered curiously at her, while the marine beside Riverstone gripped his G36K and aimed it towards the mirror. It was only when the AI reached a forearm forward did Riverstone immediately turn the dial.

By the end of the sixth day, the fleshy tendrils that carpeted the floor, walls and ceiling had begun to shrivel up and dry. But, Riverstone was also beginning to lose hope as the hours slowly ticked away.

Her right ear swiveled back slightly before she turned her head to look towards the door to the room. Addamo had walked in, his eyes looking straight ahead of him at the Quantum Mirror. His uniform was unzipped and his right arm wrapped in a white cloth sling beneath his uniform. Many layers of bandages were wrapped around his chest and right shoulder.

An uncomfortable sigh came from him as his sky blue gaze briefly fell to the dried, black corpse of the organic AI. "I hope we never see this thing in our universe. Having to fight one is more than enough for me."

Riverstone nodded as she drew a deep breath and grumbled while looking back towards the mirror. "Just be glad that we had to deal with a rogue VI, and not this thing in our reality."

Addamo nodded slowly at that. "Yeah. Speaking of which, any luck?"

Riverstone shook her head in response, huffing softly as she reached her right hand up to rub the back of her neck. "No luck. There were only two variations that were even close to our universe…one of which was…" She frowned as her ears splayed out and her gaze fell to the console before her. "One of which had our children…all grown up and with us on Destiny…our children who never lived."

Addamo growled softly, "Fate likes to be cruel, huh?" He groaned as he placed his left hand over his left shoulder. "God damn it."

"How's the arm?" Riverstone asked as she looked back up towards the mirror, turning the dial clockwise once again.

The scarred male Viterosaur huffed a sigh at that, "Besides having a big ass hole in my shoulder and back…not so great. Don't think I'll ever have full use of my arm again."

Riverstone flicked her long tail upwards once, the long fur of her tail tuft swishing quietly. She turned her right eye towards him, "Don't say that, Tom. You've bounced back from worse before. Besides, you can always ask your star heart to heal you up."

"Tch," Addamo responded almost immediately, his ears swiveling back to lay flat against his head. "I'd rather not rely on it for something like this."

Riverstone stared at the image that had come up on the mirror. It was her, Addamo, and a shirtless Viterosaur she did not recognize at all. The unfamiliar Viterosaur's fur was completely white all over, suggesting that they were albino. However, their eyes betrayed the fact that they were not, as those piercing eyes of theirs were gold in color. The hilt of a sword poked up from behind their right shoulder, with a leather strap slung around their chest from their right shoulder to their left hip.

The unfamiliar Viterosaur blinked several times, glancing at Riverstone's counterpart before glancing back at her once more. Riverstone glanced at Addamo's counterpart, whose right arm was also wrapped in a sling beneath his unzipped uniform.

Riverstone rested her hands on either side of the console and hung her head forward, utterly exhausted. "Tom…when we get back home…you're out of the off-world team and all other teams for that matter."

Addamo's ears shot upright and his head snapped to his left to look at the female Viterosaur with a mixture of shock and dismay. His counterpart did the same, looking at Riverstone's counterpart with the same expression. The unfamiliar Viterosaur turned to look at her counterpart with surprise and seemed to protest.

"Why?" Addamo asked simply.

"Because you're not fit for duty…not the way you are."

"Like hell I am!" Addamo protested angrily. "You know damn well that I'm ready and fit for duty no matter what the hell is wrong with me! Broken wrists, broken ankles, hell a broken leg! I've been through it before, and I sure as hell will do it again!"

"That's enough!" Riverstone barked as her head shot up to face him, her ears lying flat against her head and her tail whipping to one side in agitation. "I don't want to hear anything else out of you, Col. That's an order!" Addamo's ears splayed out and his cat-like pupils dilated. Then, his ears flattened against his head and his upper lip twitched slightly as he turned to face her.

Meanwhile, their counterparts did the same, while the unfamiliar white Viterosaur took several steps away from Riverstone's counterpart.

"Shandra…we've both been through a lot together," Addamo said as calmly as he could. But his tail twitching from side to side betrayed his own agitation, "We've been through hell and back together one too many damn times!" He angled his snout downwards and looked her dead in the eye, "I'm not about to let an injury like this knock me out of the game. You should know that by know! We've been together for fourteen years, Shandra. I'm not about to drop out just because of a goddamn hole in my-"

An angry growl interrupted him as Riverstone lunged for him with an outstretched hand, grabbing hold of his undershirt and pulling him closer until their snouts were no more than several inches away from one another. "Col. Thomas Addamo! I knew I picked the right man to be my mate! But I sure as hell picked the most stubborn males of them all!" The two of them stared into each other's eyes for a good long minute before Riverstone's angry expression softened, "But I can't deny that I'm proud to call you my mate."

"Well that-" Addamo began but was again interrupted as she pulled him closer until both their snouts met and their lips locked together. Their eyes closed and they held the kiss for several long minutes in silence, their tails intertwining with one another beside their legs.

A strange crackling came from the console before a voice spoke up from the static, "…damo, do you read me?" But neither Viterosaur seemed to notice or react to the feminine voice.

A nervous cough came from behind Addamo near the door after a minute. The two of them broke their kiss and turned their attention towards the marine at the door. "If…you two are done arguing, I think the…other universe is trying to talk to us."

Addamo and Riverstone both turned their eyes towards the mirror. Unbeknownst to them, Riverstone's left hand had accidentally turned the dial a dozen degrees clockwise. A pregnant Terra stood behind the console, with Vitero-Rush standing to her left, Vitero-Young standing off to the right and in front of the console, Vitero-Chloe and Vitero-Scott standing together near the door, and Vitero-Greer standing just off to Vitero-Rush's left.

Terra was grinning widely. She moved her right hand over slightly before she opened her mouth to speak. Her voice suddenly spoke from the console, from the circular grated hole above the hand scanner. "Gen. Riverstone, Col. Addamo, can you hear me?"

"Terra?" Riverstone asked as she turned and stepped back behind the console, but there was no response.

Terra only shook her head after a moment, "Gen., you must flip the top left most switch and then press the button above the scanner in order for us to hear you."

Vitero-Young turned around and stepped back towards the console, reaching his left hand out and resting it on the console as he looked back towards them before speaking, "Assuming you two are of the right ranks, rather than switched between each other.

Riverstone rolled her eyes before reaching to flip the top left switch up before reaching her right hand up to press the button, "I wouldn't have this patch on my right shoulder if I wasn't a General, Everett. Now. Here's an important question for you…Heads? Or tails?"

"Heads," was the immediate response, prompting a sigh of relief from Riverstone. "Please tell me that Tarvock and Eli are with you two on that side," Vitero-Young said. There was a slight tone to his voice that betrayed to the two of them that he was exhausted.

Riverstone nodded, "Yeah, they are. Tarvock's up at the interface room and Eli's with his…well, his human self."

All ears in the Viterosaur party splayed out at the statement. "Human?" Vitero-Young's voice crackled from the console.

Riverstone glanced to her right, at the marine standing guard just outside of the doorway. "Our…counterparts in this universe," Riverstone answered. "Hey, Cpl. Why don't you come over here and say 'hi'?"

The marine turned to look at the female Viterosaur nervously. He swallowed lightly before stepping out from behind the frame of the door and entered the room. His gaze turned towards the mirror at the group of Viterosaur's. He waved warily.

"Intriguing," came Terra's voice over the console.

"Very interesting," Vitero-Rush's voice added, his left elbow coming to rest in his right palm as he rubbed at his chin.

"Trust me," Riverstone said with a light smirk, "it's confusing as hell hearing your voices but seeing human faces to those voices."

"Everett," Addamo said as he leaned closer to the console, "we've got a hell of a story to tell you guys once we get back." He indicated with his snout towards the stiff dead AI in the center of the room before motioning with his left hand to his right arm under his uniform.

"What the hell is that?" Vitero-Young's voice crackled from the console.

"Something that came pretty damn close to killing me," Addamo replied. He and Riverstone glanced at one another for a moment before looking back towards the group in the mirror, "A lot has happened here in the last three weeks. We've got one hell of a long story to tell you guys."

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Tarvock closed his eyes and drew a deep breath before tapping the button on the door controls to open the door to the bridge. As the doors slide open, his yellow eyes immediately came to rest on the figure in the central command chair in the center of the bridge.

Rush turned his head to look back over his left shoulder at the android. He gave half a smile before returning his attention back to one of the screens on the console surrounding the command chair. "Interesting to see you up here," he said as he raised his left hand to his lips, resting the back of his index finger on his upper lip while observing the data on the screen.

"Maybe for you," Tarvock said as he sauntered passed the command chair and came to stop behind one of the swivel chairs behind the weapons systems console. "But for me, the bridge is where I'm usually at…aside from the interface room. I commanded the Destiny Two for a very long while." He placed his hands on the back of the chair and leaned forward, staring at the purple star. He shook his head gently side to side, "Still don't understand…why it's purple…let alone why even make such a star and planet."

"You have these planets and stars in your universe as well?" Rush asked as he leaned his head back and looked at the back of the androids head.

Tarvock nodded in response, "Yeah…we do. But haven't seen a star like this in ours. It's very strange." He pushed off from the chair and turned towards Rush, "Speaking of strange…Destiny gave me something even stranger to look at."

Rush's eyes narrowed at that while he rubbed the fingers of his left hand together lightly. "What do you mean?"

Tarvock took a few steps towards the command chair before stopping at the foot of the single step leading up to the chair. The two of them looked one another in the eye for several long moments before Tarvock parted his jaws and spoke, "Destiny showed me two cardiograph charts."

Rush could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end while the android spoke.

The android Viterosaur lifted his left hand and placed it over his heart, "Cardiograph charts of…my heartbeat."

Rush's eyes only narrowed further while he turned his head to one side but kept his gaze on the android. "Your…heartbeat?"

"Yeah," Tarvock responded with a slow nod. "But what I can't seem to figure out…is why the hell it showed me two cardiograph charts."

Rush did not say anything afterwards. He sat there for a moment, pondering whether he should tell the android what the ship had uncovered for him almost a week ago. It could be a possible security issue if he told him what Destiny had shared with him. But then again, how much of an issue would it really be if he did tell the android? He was of a different universe after all. Not only that, but he helped save the Destiny from a possible threat.

He inhaled quietly and sighed before sitting forward in the chair, reaching to the console surrounding the chair and pulling up the two cardiograph charts on the screen. He indicated towards the screen and the android stepped up towards the command chair to peer down at the screen.

"Yeah, these are the charts," Tarvock said nodding once while looking over the charts once more. The android frowned and turned his left eye to look at Rush, "How'd you know what I was talking about?"

Rush pursed his lips for a brief moment before sighing, "Because…Destiny made me aware of this a week ago." He held up a hand as Tarvock parted his jaws to retort, "But I assure you, Tarvock, I had no idea what these charts were of. But now I know for certain with what you've just told me." He removed his glasses from his face and gave the android a serious look, "One of these charts shows the pattern of the signal coming directly from the obelisk on the planet's surface."

Tarvock blinked several times at that and was silent for a number of minutes while he stared down at the charts on the console screen. "The obelisk?" he finally said.

Rush nodded in response, "Aye. The obelisk on the planet's surface is emitting a signal…that happens to correspond to your heartbeat. It matches perfectly."

"This doesn't make any sense…why?"

Rush could only shake his head from side to side at that, as he had absolutely no answer he could give.

Suddenly, several alarms blared loudly from the command chair console. Both of them turned their attentions back to the screen as several warning symbols flashed on the screen while the alarms continued to blare.

The androids pupils dilated. "What the hell?" Tarvock exclaimed as his head snapped in the direction of the bridge windows, his yellow eyes wide and his ears splayed out some.

"What is it?" Rush asked as he sat forward in the chair, shooting a nervous glance up at the android before his eyes flicked towards the bridge windows. His eyebrows furrowed.

Suddenly, Tarvock spun around and snatched Rush's radio from where it stood on the left armrest of the command chair. "Everyone brace for impact!" he shouted into the radio.

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Young glanced down at the radio in his hand just as he entered the control interface room. He stopped just in the threshold of the corridor and the interface room, and then glanced towards Brody who had also turned his head to look at him with a confused look.

No sooner had Young raised his right hand up to speak into his radio did the floor beneath him suddenly jolt in one direction, sending him staggering forward while Brody hunched forward over his console from the force of the impact.

The lights flickered and dimmed for a very brief moment. Young collapsed to the floor while the lights continued to flicker.

Brody pushed himself upright while keeping himself steady in order to prevent himself from losing his balance. The screen on his console flickered as well before going completely dark the moment the lights flickered off while alarms began to blare softly all around the interface room.

As the floor beneath him ceased shaking, Young cautiously stood to his feet just as the lights around the room gradually came back on one by one.

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Weir coughed quietly as she pushed herself up off the floor while the lights above her flickered off and on repeatedly. She reached a hand up to place it on her forehead, where she'd hit her head from her tumble forward. She glanced back over her left shoulder as someone else let out a pained groan.

Theogret and the other five Replicators all slowly picked themselves up from the floor. "What just happened?" he asked as he shook his head, reaching a hand forward to pick his glasses up off the ground. He replaced them on his nose and sat up on his knees as he glanced up at the still flickering lights in the ceiling. "Is there a battle of some sort going on?"

One of the female Replicators stood to her feet and crossed the room to the only window, peering out at the stars. A few seconds of silence passed before she shook her head, "No. I'm certain that we're stationary."

"As we have been for the last week," Weir said as she brushed the front of her uniform of dust.

"Then what could that have been?" one of the male Replicators asked as he stood to his feet as well, rubbing the right side of his forehead.

The female Replicator standing by the window shook her head, "I can't say for certain. Whatever it was, it was a large enough impact to have caused the ship to temporarily lose power."

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Addamo groaned loudly in pain while Riverstone cradled him in his arms as the floor ceased shaking. The two of them sat upright before the female Viterosaur helped Addamo to his feet. He closed his eyes and reached up with his left hand, placing it on the side of his head just below his left ear. "Damn…what the hell was that?" he asked as he leaned his left hip against the side of the console.

"Cpl.," Riverstone called out towards the door before reaching back with her right hand and placing it on her back, "you alright out there?"

There was a grunt and groan before the marine stumbled in, "Yes ma'am…what just happened?"

"Col. Addamo, Gen. Riverstone, is everything alright?" Terra's concerned voice crackled from the control console. All of the Viterosaur's looked on with worry in their eyes.

Huffing lightly, Riverstone leaned forward with both hands onto the console and pressed the comm button, "Yeah…just a bit bruised is all. Standby, I'm going to find out what happened." With that, she pushed away from the console and unclipped the radio from her belt and raising it to her snout.

But before she could speak, Young's voice crackled from the radio, "Rush? What the hell just happened?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Everett," Riverstone stated as she glanced towards Addamo, who'd leaned forward slightly while still holding his head in his hand. "Tom, maybe you should sit down."

The male Viterosaur's ears pricked upright and he stood up straight, "No no, I'm good. See?" He turned his head to his right to glance over his shoulder at her, flashing her a pained smile.

Riverstone narrowed her eyes, but did not say anything further. Instead, she sighed in frustration, lifting her hand again to speak into the radio since there had been no reply. "Someone on the damn bridge give us some answers! Rush? You alive or what? Tarvock? What's your status?"

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Rush slowly stood from the command chair while soft alarms sounded from the control console surrounding the chair, his left hand reaching up to fix his glasses. His stare remained fixed to the sight out the bridge windows. His mouth remained slightly parted as he stepped down from the command chair and approached the android, coming to stand on Tarvock's left. The two of them stared out in disbelief at what they were both seeing.

"It's gone," Rush said simply. Tarvock merely responded with a slow nod of his head.

All they saw, was the brilliant purple star…there was no more planet to be seen.

"How?" Rush asked, not quite directing the question to the android, but to himself. "How could it just…disappear? Vanish without warning?"

"Th-that's because…it jumped," Tarvock responded.

Rush blinked and glanced sideways at the Viterosaur, "Jumped?"

Tarvock simply replied with a nod of his head. He could see it on the androids muzzle that Tarvock was just as perplexed as he was.

His eyes turned back out towards the bridge windows, not entirely sure what to make out of what had just happened.

"Rush!" came Young's frustrated voice from the radio in Tarvock's hand, thus causing the pair to glance down at the radio.

The android raised the radio to his muzzle and spoke, "S-Sorry about the silence, Col. We're just…trying to make sense of things."

"Then why don't you start by telling us what the hell just hit the ship," Riverstone's commanding voice joined the conversation through the radio.

The two of them glanced at one another, staring at each other for a few moments before Rush broke the silence, "By 'jumped,' what did you mean?"

Tarvock turned his head to return his gaze out the bridge windows. "Well, I don't know how else to explain it…think of it like an object crossing a massive distance by shifting from one set of coordinates to another set of coordinates in a fraction of a second. It's far from being hyperdrive or even FTL. It's something…more." The android shook his head, still clearly in disbelief, "That shockwave was massive…I'm surprised Destiny wasn't blown in two by it. My best guess is that the planet moved to a completely different location in this universe."

Rush sighed and turned to step back towards the command chair. The soft alarms still blared on the console surrounding the chair. "Then that explains how the planet got here from the previous galaxy."

Tarvock's ears splayed out and he stepped back to turn and face Rush, "You mean…?"

Rush nodded in response as he glanced down at the screen on the chairs console, "Aye. We encountered this exact same planet in the previous galaxy before we all put ourselves in stasis." Rush leaned closer to the console screen to inspect the warnings and damage reports that had popped up.

"Interesting."

There was a crackling that came from the radio before Riverstone's voice spoke again, "We're still waiting on an answer, Rush, Tarvock."

"We've lost FTL capabilities," Rush said as he turned off the alarms.

Tarvock took a deep breath and raised his hand up to his snout, "Well, good news is that we're not under attack." He and Rush locked gazes for a moment, "Bad news is…Destiny's FTL drive has been damaged."

"By what?" Young's voice immediately responded over the radio.

The android and Rush looked at one another for a few more seconds before Tarvock turned back to face the bridge windows. He raised the radio to his snout once more, "A massive dimensional distortion shockwave…the planet jumped."

"What?!" Young's voice crackled back.

"I'm beginning to think there's far more to that planet than I originally thought," Rush said with a loud sigh before sitting back down in the command chair. "And somehow…you're connected to it."

The android lowered his right arm back down by his side, holding onto the radio tightly. His ears swiveled back and splayed out some while he stared out the window at the purple star. He was silent for a good long moment as he seemed to struggle inside himself with something.

"There must be something that transcends beyond just this universe of ours," Rush continued as he spoke towards the androids back. "You figure into the mystery of this planet somehow…or perhaps, even your entire universe is involved in the mystery."

"But why?" Tarvock asked. "Why me? Why my universe? We've never interacted before until the past three weeks."

Rush closed his eyes and gave a single acknowledging nod, "Aye, I'm aware of that. But Destiny's scans do not lie, and you confirmed it yourself…the signal coming from the obelisk parallels exactly to your heartbeat."

A frustrated growl came from the android as his ears flattened against his head and his tail flicked upwards once before flicking to the left. "I just…don't get it. Maybe…maybe the planet was trying to communicate with me?" he asked as he turned his head to look over his right shoulder at Rush.

Rush scratched the stubble of his chin as he pondered the androids question. "Perhaps…or perhaps something much deeper is at play here. But now I want to know…if the planet was trying to communicate with you, why would it jump away now? We've been here for a week…so why now?"

Tarvock averted his gaze to the ground and fell silent for a few seconds. Then, he shrugged in response, "Beats me. I'm still trying to figure out how it even managed to jump in the first place."

The radio in Tarvock's hand crackled for a few seconds before Young's voice spoke from it, "So…if our FTL is out for the count, how the hell are we going to fix it?"

A smirk spread over the androids muzzle as he raised the radio to his snout, "Leave that to me, Col. Give me a couple days, and I'll have the Destiny all patched up for you. It'll give me something to do for a little while to take my mind off of things."

"Good," Young responded with a slight crackle of static. "Then I want you on it right now."

"Just don't kill yourself while you're at it, Tarvock," Riverstone's voice added over the radio.

"You know about the Destiny's FTL drive?" Rush asked with a raised eyebrow.

The android turned to face Rush, a smirk still spread over his muzzle. "I may not look it, but I'm ancient. I know the Destiny inside and out like the back of my hand." He chuckled and folded his arms across his chest, "After all, I've pretty much lived on Destiny nearly my whole life, commanding it and what not." He cocked his head to one side as he seemed to ponder something, "About…a thousand and ninety-two years, to be exact. I know Destiny better than anyone else...but I will admit, Destiny Two will surprise me sometimes with things I didn't know about it."

"Interesting," Rush said in an amused tone while rubbing the stubble of his chin.

Tarvock nodded his head lightly before he glanced back out the bridge windows, staring at the brilliant purple star directly in front of the ship. He drew a deep breath and let out a sigh. Rush could detect the slightest bit of frustration in the androids sigh. "Well…no point in me standing around here while this ship has no FTL. I'll have enough time to contemplate the signal that came from the planet's surface while I'm repairing the FTL drive." With that, he turned and glanced at Rush briefly and smiled, "Just…don't fire up the sublights while I'm down there, alright? I'll let you know when I'm done." The android then turned to head towards the bridge door and exited the bridge.

ͼͽ

Addamo reached his left hand out towards Young, to which Young did not hesitate in taking a hold of and promptly give a firm handshake. "Everett…thanks for trusting us."

Young immediately responded with a gentle nod of his head, "I should be the one thanking you. You put your life on the line for us. That's more than we could ever do for you." He turned his eyes towards Tarvock, "And thanks for your help uncovering this thing. We wouldn't have known if Destiny hadn't asked you to look into it."

The android closed his yellow eyes and bowed his head forward, "Glad to help, Col. Sorry it took me so long to repair the FTL. I thought two days would be enough to get her back up and running, but there was a lot more damage than I anticipated."

Young shook his head in response, managing a subtle smile up at the android as he shifted his right arm in his sling, "Don't worry about it. I think I can say that we're all grateful that you were even here to help us."

"And you've got fate to thank for that," Riverstone said, who stood on Addamo's left. "Maybe it was part of our destiny to end up in your universe, but we're glad we got to help out in any way we could."

"What are you going to do about your arm, Col. Addamo?" Terra asked while she cradled her three sleeping infants in her arms, bouncing them up and down gently.

Addamo glanced sideways at Riverstone, who gave him a rather inquisitive look in response. He sighed deeply, "Well…with an injury like this, there's no possibility of my arm ever being the same again. It'd likely destroy my military career for the rest of my life." The Viterosaur then glanced towards Vitero-Eli for a brief moment before turning his gaze towards Terra and the rest. "I think I'll ask my star-heart to patch me up."

Riverstone turned to face the mirror, nodding towards Vitero-Young and Vitero-Rush. "You know…now that I look at the two of them," she said before turning to look at Young and Rush, "I can see at least one resemblance. Just around the eyes, though."

Young smirked at that, reaching up his left hand to scratch his temple, "Same color, huh?"

Riverstone shook her head at that, "Not really because their the same color…but because you both have the same look in your eyes. Calm, strategic and confident." She took a step towards Everett and looked down at him with a soft smile, "Everett…I know we started out pretty rough…but I'm glad I got to help out your SGC. Thanks for letting me help your people."

Young reached his hand out and the female Viterosaur took a firm hold of it, "I'm just glad your weren't one of the casualties, Gen. I would hate to have to send you back to your universe in a body bag."

The two of them smiled at one another while Tarvock shook hands with Rush, and Eli did the same with his counterpart.

Riverstone smirked, "Damn straight." She smirked and they broke their handshake. The female Viterosaur glanced sideways at Addamo before her sea green gaze flicked towards TJ, who managed a soft smile in return. "Lt., thanks for saving this fools ass," she said as she patted Addamo on his left shoulder. "Don't know I would do without him."

TJ nodded in response before indicating towards Tarvock, "I can't take all the credit, Gen. If it weren't for Tarvock, that spine would still be in the Col.'s shoulder."

The android tipped his snout down in acknowledgement when Riverstone glanced towards him. With a slight jerk of her head towards the mirror, Tarvock turned and stepped back towards the mirror. Vitero-Eli did the same as well.

Tarvock stood before the mirror, remainin still for a moment. His tail flicked upwards once before he reached his right hand up and gently placed his palm on the mirrors surface. In an instant, he was facing towards them once more…back in his home universe. Vitero-Eli followed soon after, glancing back towards his counterpart for a moment before placing his hand on the mirror. He too reappeared in his home universe, smiling back at Eli.

The female Viterosaur turned her gaze back towards Young when Addamo stepped back and approached the mirror. However, he did not immediately touch the surface of the mirror. Instead, he turned and glanced back towards Riverstone.

"Everett," she said with a smile, "why don't you keep us on speed dial. We can keep in touch that way, give you guys a heads up if anything happens on our end. Never know, it might happen here on your side."

Young clasped his hands behind his back and nodded once, "Will do, Gen. We'll keep the light on, have someone stationed in here just in case you need to reach out to us."

"Good," Riverstone replied with a soft smile. "Until then, keep safe. All of you, that's an order." With that, she stepped away from Young and walked across the room to stand beside Addamo. The two of them glanced at one another before they both reached out and touched the mirrors surface, reappearing instantly back in their home universe.

They watched as their Viterosaur counterparts reunited with their friends after so long. There was some form of a friendship between them. But what they all noticed was Vitero-Rush standing off to one side from the rest of the group, simply watching while Riverstone and Vitero-Young greeted one another and Vitero-Eli hugged one of the shorter female Viterosaurs.

Tarvock then stepped towards the console on their side and reached down to place a hand on the console. Static came from the console in front of Rush before Tarvock's voice spoke from the circular grate. "Dr. Rush. I'll keep you posted on anything I can think of regarding what we found. Maybe I'll find something in Destiny Two's database, though I very much doubt that. But either way, if I find something or an idea or theory hits me, I'll get in touch with you immediately."

Rush managed a small smile and nodded softly before pressing the button to communicate with the other universe. "Very well. I shall do the same if I find anything here on my end."

Young glanced at Rush, giving him a look of suspicion while the android nodded in response. With that, the android pushed away from his console and returned to greeting Vitero-Young. Young wondered just what the two of them were referring to. He came to the decision that he would confront Rush about it later on.

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Zelenka yawned as he sat in front of the laptop sitting atop the fold-up table that had been set up in the huge chamber of the rotating star drive engine. He leaned forward on his right elbow and stared blankly at the Ancient data that was slowly scrolling up the screen.

He reached his left hand up and slid his fingers beneath the frame of his glasses, rubbing as his eye as he yawned yet again. As exciting as it was to study new data, he was far too tired at that point to continue going over it. As he contemplated calling for Rodney to switch with him, a soft alarm blared from his touch screen tablet off to his right at the edge of the table.

Furrowing his eyebrows and sitting upright in the stool, he reached for the tablet and brought it closer to him, fixing his glasses upon his nose. He peered down at the screen, which showed a layout of Atlantis. A single white dot blinked in a section of the city that he was all too familiar with; the corridor that led to Janus' secret laboratory.

Zelenka tapped the tablet screen and ran his right index finger over its surface, rotating the image of Atlantis' layout. He rotated the diagram until it showed Atlantis as if it were being viewed from a boat in the ocean.

"What?" he said in Czech as he looked at the blinking white dot located about fifty feet below Janus' laboratory. "There shouldn't be anything down there!" he continued in Czech. "Why is there so much power in such an isolated location in the city?"

He reached his left hand up and scratched idly at his left temple. "What is going on?" he asked himself aloud. He studied the diagram of Atlantis for several more seconds before reaching for the radio resting on the table beside his laptop. "I must tell Rodney about this."

Å

End Chapter 12


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